Learning To Breathe
by typewrite
Summary: When Naminé gets introduced to her mom's new boyfriend, she doesn't expect to meet his adopted son, Roxas, too. The two teenagers don't exactly hit it off, due to Roxas's inability to drop his miserable, I-hate-my-life attitude. When their parents get married, Roxas and Naminé are forced together in ways they never expected.
1. Behind Closed Gates

**1. Behind Closed Gates**

"Why am I doing this?"

"Come on, Naminé. You're going to have to meet them eventually."

I roll my eyes and continue to stare out the car window. She just couldn't get it in her head that I didn't _want _to meet – Wait. "_Them_"?

"'_Them'_?" I look at my mother accusingly. "I thought you were just introducing me to your boyfriend…" She kept her eyes on the road, but squeezed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders nervously. "What, don't tell me there's two?"

"No, no, nothing like that…" She scoffed. "It's _just_ my boyfriend, Leon, who I've told you about… And his son, Roxas."

"Son?"

She paused. "Yes… son."

I leaned back in the passenger seat, playing with my shoulder-length, blonde hair. "Why am I just now hearing about this 'son'?"

"Well, he's not actually Leon's _son. _He adopted Roxas a couple weeks ago."

That seemed a little random. "Why?"

"It's… complicated, Naminé."

"So you don't know?"

"No, it's just... Roxas's been through a lot. Leon found him on the streets."

My head shot in my mother's direction. _The streets?_

"Wait, how old is this kid?"

"About fifteen, a year older than you."

"Why was he on the streets? What, did he run away or something?"

"Something like that. You'll just have to ask Leon when we get to there."

I leaned back in my seat, turning to look out the window as the residential houses soon turned into commercial shops and restaurants. My mom met Leon about four months ago. Before that, it had been just me and her for three years. Why do I suddenly have the feeling that things were about to change?

* * *

"Naminé, this is Leon."

The man before me looked nothing like I had expected. As opposed to the sketchy, vile-looking man I pictured when mom mentioned "new boyfriend", Leon was clean-cut and… handsome. The most surprising aspect, however, was that he actually looked _likable. _He was really tall (but that might have just been comparative to my 5'4'' height) with long, dark-brown, spiky hair. I noticed a thin scar that cut across his face from his mid-forehead to his left cheek. He smiled at me and held out his hand, shaking mine firmly when I offered it to him.

"Nice to meet you, Naminé. Your mother's told me a lot about you."

I smiled honestly, trying hard to diminish the awkward air that hung around us. "Nice to meet you too."

We were in a coffee shop in Healen, an area downtown with tall buildings and high-class restaurants. Leon apparently owned the store, which I found surprising as I looked around at expensive decorations and architecture. Well, at least we knew he wasn't mooching off my mom's money.

I eyed the set of table and chairs that Leon had stood up from to greet us, where a young boy was seated, listening to his iPod. His arms were crossed and his hood was up, but I could still make out the blonde bangs that were shading his eyes while his head faced downward. He was slouched far down in his chair, with his feet stretched out underneath the small, round table.

Leon turned towards the boy, gesturing towards my mom and I as if he was paying attention. "Roxas, you gonna introduce yourself?"

Roxas made no movement, and Leon dropped his arm in aggravation, calling out more sternly, "Roxas."

"_What_?" The boy snapped, pulling his hood off and looking up with an angry expression on his face.

But then his eyes met mine, and they widened. He suddenly looked surprised and... confused. We stared at each other for a few seconds, allowing me to take in his sandy blond spikes, tan skin, pouty mouth, and light-colored eyes.

"Roxas, this is my girlfriend, Aerith, and her daughter, Naminé," Again, Leon gestured to us.

"Hi," He muttered, and I noticed his voice, though laced with irritation and anger, was naturally soft. But that was all we got out of him before his hood was back up, his arms were crossed, and his head was down again.

Leon sighed, turning to us. "So. What can I get you guys to drink?"

* * *

**Two years later**

* * *

"Touch my radio again and you die."

"Then turn it down!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No – Hey!"

I reached over with my other hand – the one that didn't have my wrist clasped in his hand from my previous attempts – and turned the volume of his car radio down to a considerable volume.

"What did I _just _say?"

"You're not the boss of me!"

"It's _my_ car!"

"Well,_ I'm_ trying to read!"

"Does it look like I care?"

"Would you _let go_ of me?"

"Why should I?"

I groaned, throwing myself back in the passenger seat. We had been going at this since we got in the car. Every time I'd try to turn the volume of his music down, he'd turn it back up with the controls on his steering wheel. "You're relentless."

"Yeah, well you're annoying."

He dropped my hand and reached over to turn the volume dial until_ The Black Keys _were blasting through the car again. I slammed _Jane Eyre _shut and threw it on the floorboard, crossing my arms and looking out the window.

It's been a month since Leon and my mom got married. After their honeymoon, they decided to move into a bigger house (we had been living with Leon, with Roxas and I sharing a room. _That_ was quite the experience). Now, we were on our way to the new house with Leon and my mom in the moving truck in front of us, while I was stuck with Roxas in his '69 Camaro. He was seventeen now, while I was sixteen. My hair was longer and my boobs were bigger (not by much though...), and he was now six foot with a body to kill – but not a thing has changed between us. He was still a quiet, brooding loner who hated everything, and I still knew nothing about him.

Except his past. When I finally got around to asking Leon about Roxas, about a few weeks after I met them, I learned why Roxas was the way he was.

When Roxas was eight, his mom died of cancer. Leon never specified what kind. Six years later, his dad shot himself. Leon said he found Roxas getting jumped in an alley, not far from the coffee shop. I could tell that there was a part of Roxas's back story that he was leaving out, but I chose not to ask. When I asked him why he adopted Roxas, he just replied, "Sometimes, there are things in life you just do."

And that's how we got here. The only other facts I learned about Roxas in the two years that I'd known his were that his eyes were dark blue, and that he loved music.

My eyes grew wide when I realized the type of neighborhood we were in. Trees surrounded either side of the road we were on. In between them were cobblestone driveways blocked off behind intricate iron gates. Each long driveway we passed led to a house that was at least three times the size off our old house. Part of me questioned whether or not a family like ours belonged behind a tall, iron gate.

We arrived at the new house in silence (well, apart from the music blaring through the car). We stopped while Leon punched in the gate code, then made our way down the long, cobblestone driveway when the black, iron gates opened. The house was bent around the end of the driveway, making a small courtyard in front of the front door and garage. Roxas pulled up next to the giant moving truck my mom and Leon were currently hopping out of. I looked out my window at the large entryway that held a dark, intricately designed front door.

I stepped out of the car and looked up at the large house. It was bigger than our old house, and much bigger than Leon's flat in the city. Tall pine trees of a variety of shades of green surrounded the house, some even taller than the second story of the house. I counted at least four chimneys sticking out of the tall, pointed, multi-layered roof. The second story wrapped around the entire house, creating two sections above the main house and garage.

Leon unlocked the front door while my mom came around to Roxas and I.

"So," She smiled at us. "How was the drive?"

Roxas said nothing and walked into the house behind Leon.

My mom smiled sympathetically at me. I just shrugged, following the guys inside.

I was met with a curved staircase and an old, crystal chandelier hanging above me on the high ceiling. The four of us stood there, looking around. Leon let out a low whistle.

"Pretty cool, huh?" He says as he wraps and arm around my mom's waist.

She looks up at the crystal chandelier. "I'll say."

"Why don't you two go check out the house before we unload? The realtors said this place has got a lot of nooks and passageways."

I nodded, and made my way up the stairs, realizing that Roxas was already ascending them. Right up the stairs was a loft, with a high ceiling and a large, glass window the overlooked the backyard. From it I could see a lake, and a small dock coming off the freshly-cut grass of our yard that led to it. At least I knew where I'd be spending most of my time reading.

But just as my optimistic thoughts about living in a new house appeared, I heard a door slam down the hall that Roxas had walked down.

And with it, all of my optimism faded.

* * *

**typewrite**: Here's the first chapter of my first multi-chapter story! It's a little short, I know, but the others will be way longer. I promise. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, ect., feel free to let me know.

Please review. I love hearing what people have to say about my stories.

It's rated T due to language (mostly spoken by Roxas) and violence. I probably won't be too descriptive with the violence though. There's also some sensitive material regarding Roxas's past, which you'll learn more about later on.

The song inspiration for the story is "Learning To Breathe" by _Switchfoot._

Thanks for reading!


	2. Unexpected Affiliation

**2. Unexpected Affiliation **

"Roxas, give it back!"

"No."

"Leon! Roxas is being an asshole again!" I glared at him when he rolled his eyes. I stood up on the tips of my toes, reaching up higher to get my iPod from his hands. "You're such a hypocrite! You play your music loud all the time!"

"The difference being that _I_ listen to _real _music," He leaned down, getting in my face and piercing me with his cobalt eyes. "Shorty."

I jumped up and grabbing his wrist that he held high in the air. I tried pulling it down to my level, but with his strength against mine, it was no use. He actually ended up pulling _me_ off the ground.

"Leave. Me. Alone. Roxas!" I kicked at the floor, trying to place my feet back on the ground.

"Are you going to turn your music down?" Again, his eyes pierced mine. I groaned.

"Yes! Just put me down!" He lowered his wrist, letting the iPod Touch that had been clasped in his hand fall to the wooden floor. My eyes widened when the screen cracked, and I turned back to my step brother in disbelief. Roxas just turned, opening the door to his bedroom (which was, regrettably, right next to mine) and slamming it shut behind him.

I sighed in frustration, leaning down to pick up my iPod. I turn to go to my room, and see Leon arrive at the top of the stairs.

"Great timing, Leon," I mutter as I walk into my room, shutting the door behind me. Once inside, I lean against the door and examine the damage of my iPod screen.

Two seconds later, _Nirvana _is blasting through the entire second story of the house.

You've got to be kidding me.

* * *

"Leon, this is getting ridiculous," I say as I walk into the kitchen, where my new step-dad is unpacking the kitchenware and putting it in cabinets.

"Finished unpacking?" He continues to unpack. I ignore his question.

"Roxas is relentless! No matter what I do, I can't get him to turn his music down, and how am I expected to get anything done when _"Smells Like Teen Spirit" _is making the walls of my room vibrate? I haven't been able to draw anything in weeks because of him and his stupid–"

"Whoa, okay, okay!" I shut up, exhaling when I see Leon holding two plates up in defense. I smile, almost laughing at his goofy, alarmed expression.

Leon sets the plates down, walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. He bends down to my level, giving me a reassuring smile. "Calm down. Okay?"

I nod, exhaling again.

"Look, I know Roxas is a pain in the ass. Hell, we _all _know that. I'll talk to him – Get him to lighten up with the music thing, okay?" I nod.

"Thanks," I smile. Leon does the same, and returns to putting dishes away. "Where's my mom?"

"She's organizing the closet in our room. What's this about not drawing?"

I sigh, and lift myself onto the island next to the many boxes of dishes he was unpacking. I reach in and hand him a plate, which he puts away, creating a cycle.

"I lack motivation."

"Don't you mean '_inspir_ation'?"

I chuckle. "That too, I guess. I just… get stuck. I'll be sitting with a pencil and paper, but nothing comes out."

"Ah… artist's block."

"Exactly."

"Well, you know, it's only day one in this place. Did you take a look around; find any of those house secrets I was telling you about?"

"Well… There's a back staircase from the one of the rooms upstairs to that door over there," I point to a small, closet-sized door next to the fridge, "And we have a basement that lets out on the side of the house… But what does that have to do with drawing?"

Leon chuckles. "Hey, inspiration can come from anywhere. But I actually meant _outside. _We've got neighbors on the right, but to the left there's just woods. Who knows what you'll find in there. Plus, did you see the lake? It's beautiful. Talk about inspiration."

"I guess."

"Not to mention," He adds as we finish up. Leon turns to lean against the counter opposite to me, "That it's ten times quieter and more peaceful outside than it is in here, what with all that teen spirit smelling up the place."

Leon grins at me, and I smile back.

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll try it – see if it helps. Thanks, Leon," I hop off the counter, wrapping him in a tight hug. He laughs.

"Anytime, Kiddo." With that, I make my way back upstairs to finish unpacking. Once in the foyer, I heard him call out, "Hey, I'm ordering take-out in a little bit for dinner. Ask Roxas what he wants, okay?"

Leon and I got along really well from the beginning. He quickly assumed the role of "friend" as opposed to "dad", which I was thankful for. He gave me advice when I needed it, took me to see R-rated horror movies that my mom was too afraid to see, and gave me a summer job at his coffee shop. Leon was even the one to teach me to drive when I turned fifteen and got my permit. I would have been ecstatic when I learned that he was going to marry my mom, had it not been for the fact that he came with a package-deal.

I walked past my door to Roxas's and knocked twice.

"Fuck off!"

The expected response.

"Open up, Roxas!" I called, annoyed.

"Go away, Naminé!" He retorted, just as annoyed.

I exhaled in frustration and thrust the door open, scanning the cluttered, box-filled room for a teenage boy. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling – something he did often.

"Leon's ordering take-out. What do you want?" I yelled over the blasting rock music.

He turned to face me, his expression livid. "What the hell? Get out!"

I rolled my eyes, yelling again. "Just answer the question, Roxas!"

He jumped off the bed and advanced toward me. As much as I hated to admit it, this frightened me a bit. I knew perhaps better than anyone that he was not afraid to be aggressive with me. "Get out, Naminé!"

"N-No!" I could tell he was about to push me out the door, so I pulled it shut.

Bad idea.

Roxas slammed me against the door, gripping my upper arms tight. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"You're crazy, you know that?" I yelled, glaring at him while he did the same to me. "I was just asking what you wanted for dinner! You didn't have to push me!"

"Oh, _I'm _crazy?"

"Yes, _you're _crazy!"

"Well, _you're_ an annoying little bitch!"

"And _you're_ an unwanted failure!"

"_You're _an insecure loner."

"Says the guy who can't even leave his room for two seconds!"

"Says the girl who can't take a hint when someone _doesn't want her around_!"

I froze.

I felt my eyes water as I glared at him. Memories of my past – of my father – came rushing into my head.

I shoved him away from me and thrusting the door open, slamming it shut behind me.

The second I was out of his room, I fell to the floor, sobbing. Roxas didn't know about my dad, and I know he wasn't referring to him, but that still didn't stop my father's image from popping in my head the moment he said that. I tried not to think about what had happened – what he did, but it was useless. Memories came flooding in regardless of whether or not I wanted them to. The only thing I could do about it was go back in my room and finish unpacking.

* * *

Roxas had turned his music off after our fight for some reason, so I was able to hear my own music coming from the speakers of my iPod dock as I hung clothes up in my closet.

It had only been about ten minutes after I stopped crying when there was a knock on my door. A moment later, Leon's head popped through the door. "Did you ask Roxas what he wanted?"

"Uh… yeah," I folded the numerous shirts over my arm and ran a hand through my hair. "He said Lo Mein."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Really, that's it?"

"A-And an eggroll – two," I added quickly. Leon nodded his head suspiciously. "I-I'll just have General Tso's."

Leon sighed. "Alright, Naminé."

His head disappeared, and the door shut behind it. I turned to continue putting my clothes away, but paused when something out my window caught my eye. My room had a perfect view of the lake and backyard, so it wasn't difficult to spot Roxas sitting on the edge of the small dock with his knees bent and his elbows resting on them.

I tore my eyes from him, and went on to finish hanging up my clothes. By the time my mom had come to inform me that the food was here, I had already managed to unpack most of my room. My sketching tools were on my desk, which was placed by my window, my bed was made, my books were on my shelves, which stood tall next to each other by my closet door, which now held all of my clothes. The only thing I had left to do was hang up my drawings.

I went downstairs for dinner, and sat at the table with my mom and Roxas. Leon came over with a large, brown paper bag and set it on the table. He opened it, and the smell of Chinese food wafted through my nose.

"One order of General Tso's Chicken for you," He pulled out a take-out box and handed it to me before pulling out another and handing it to Roxas. "And one order of Lo Mein for you – With…" He reached into the bag again. "-_two_ eggrolls."

Leon's eyes met mine, and mine dashed to Roxas, who was opening his food container wordlessly. That's the one good thing about Roxas – he's not picky. He takes what he can get, and he doesn't usually have anything to say about it.

"Alright!" Leon sat down at our small, square table with the rest of us in his usual seat (next to Roxas and me and across from my mom). "Let's eat!"

About five minutes into dinner, Mom decided to make small talk.

"So," She began after chewing her bite of fried rice. "New school tomorrow… That's exciting, huh?"

I shrugged.

She paused, waiting for more of an elaboration. A moment later she gave up and turned to Roxas.

Good luck with that one, Mom.

"What about you, Roxas? How are you feeling about tomorrow?"

No response. Surprise, surprise.

Leon eyed Roxas, desperately awaiting some kind of response. When he realized he wasn't going to get one, he decided to step in with a smirk on his face.

"Gonna get all the girls, huh, Rox–" Leon clapped him hard on the shoulder without thinking.

He should have been thinking.

Roxas jumped immediately, causing Lo Mein to fly across the table, and his glass of milk to spill over. He shoved himself back against the chair, which toppled over. Roxas stared up, wide-eyed at Leon as he tried to pick himself up off the floor.

"Shit, Roxas, I'm sorry–" Leon reached out to him (again, a mistake), and Roxas scooted back until his back was against the wall. He sat there, breathing heavily, then hastily stood up, shoving the chair out of his way before running out of the room. "Roxas, wait!"

I hadn't realized I was scooted as far back in my chair as possible until Leon had left the room, chasing after Roxas. My fingers were clamped around my fork so tight that my knuckles were aching. Upstairs, I heard a door slam, followed by Leon's calls and impetuous knocking. Soon after, the familiar sound of grunge rock dimly filled the house.

My mother sighed sadly, standing up to pick up the chair that had fallen. "Poor Roxas."

That was another thing about Roxas: He hated physical contact. The only time he ever touched anyone was when he was getting violent. When other people touched him… _that _happened. Of course, the only time it was ever _that_ bad was when it was Leon. I'd push or shove him every now and then to get him away from me, but that only makes him flinch. Mom says it's from his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which he's taking pills for. That, Depression, and Anger Management. I know he doesn't like taking them, though. The only time I've ever seen him taking his pills was when Leon or my mom made him.

Upstairs, the music had stopped. I heard a door open and close. It was quiet for about five minutes after that. Then, the yelling. Most of it – well, all of it – sounding from Roxas's voice. After that, more silence.

Leon came back into the room ten minutes later and picked up Roxas's take-out box, closing it back up. "Sorry about that, Naminé, Aeris."

"Don't apologize, Leon," My mom helped him clean up, while I excused myself. I suddenly didn't feel like eating.

It happened every time he had an episode. My throat would close up, and knots would form in my stomach. I didn't know why. It just happened.

I went upstairs, stopping at my door with my hand on the knob. I turned to my left, and eyed the door next to mine. Cautiously, I approached Roxas's door. I could hear The XX emanating from behind the door. I took a deep breath and slowly grasped the Victorian doorknob tight. Before I could allow myself to give it a second thought, I turned the knob, pushing the door open slowly.

"Roxas?" I called meekly, and poked my head in.

He was in his usual position; lying on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He didn't acknowledge me, so I spoke again.

"Roxas, are you okay?"

His voice was quiet as he stared up at the ceiling. "Get out, Naminé."

The fact that he lacked his usually threatening tone gave me incentive. "N-No."

He got up wordlessly, striding over to me. I tensed up, stepping back a bit when he was close. Roxas grabbed me roughly by my upper-arms, and threw me against the opposite wall of the hallway. I grunted as my head collided with the wall and I fell to the floor. I grasped the back of my head, and looked up just in time to see his door slamming in my face.

So much for the caring approach.

Later that night, when I was in bed, reading Jane Eyre, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

I looked up as my mom entered my room, a sincere smile on her face.

"You all set for tomorrow?" She shut the door behind herself, coming in and sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah," I dog-eared my page and closed my book, "I think so."

"I'm sorry to thrust all this on you, Sweetheart. I know it's a big change."

I shook my head. "Don't apologize. I like Leon. And he makes you happy, so I'm happy."

She smiled at me, but it faded as she turned her head. "I know. It's just… Roxas…"

"Mom, I'm not going to ask you to divorce Leon just because his son has some issues."

She smiled again, and let out a small, breathy sort of laugh. "I know that, Naminé. No, you'd never do such a thing. I just…" she sighed, and her smile faded, "It's _both _of our lives I've affected by marrying Leon and… And I just don't want _you_ to be unhappy with _your_ life just because _I_ decided to make changes to _mine_."

I smiled. "I'm not unhappy, Mom. I like our life with Leon – Even if it does come with complications."

"Okay," She nodded, smiling again, "Then, I'm glad. I just.., _wish _there was some way I could help with Roxas. I know he doesn't see me as a mother, but that still doesn't mean that I don't care about him…"

"Well, it's not like there's anything you can do to help, Mom. He's made that... pretty clear, don't you think?"

She shook her head, her eyes wandering. "I don't know… Maybe I'll talk to Leon about getting him into therapy."

"Yeah… I guess you can try that."

After a few moments of thought, my mom shook her head. "Enough talk about this. I came in here to make sure _you _were doing okay."

I laughed softly. "I am, Mom. Really."

She smiled, looking at me for a moment. "Okay, Sweetie," She reached forward, taking my face in her hands and planting a kiss on my forehead. She pulled back, smiling at me once more before letting go and slipping off the bed. "Goodnight. I love you."

"Love you too," I murmured as she stepped out my bedroom door, shutting it quietly behind her.

When she was gone, I lifted the sleeve of my t-shirt to inspect the bruise that was forming there. I brushed my finger across it softly, and gasped when a spark of pain shot through my arm. On my other arm was its twin, and I sighed in aggravation. Looks like I'll be staying away from tank-tops for the next few weeks.

I set my book down on my bed-side table, and reached over to turn off the lamp that lit my room. Darkness encased me; the only dim light emanating from the window on the wall opposite my bedroom door. I turned to it briefly, taking in the natural beauty the moon inflicted on the lake water. Then, I slid down into my sheets, burying my head in my pillow, and praying for sleep to take over me.

Eventually, it did.

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP –

I slammed my hand against the iPod dock that rested on my nightstand, blindly searching for the snooze button. I groaned as the obnoxious beeping continued to fill my room. Eventually, I gave up my search and sat up, opening my eyes and leaning over to turn it off. The small LCD screen read THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15. Under that read 6:00 A.M.. I groaned, looking out my window to see the sun peeking up behind the trees.

I slipped out of bed, walking groggily out of my room and into the bathroom across the hall that Roxas and I shared. I ran cold water over my face, inspecting my reflection in the mirror. My light blue eyes were clear now, with my dark lashes blinking slowly. My platinum hair was disarray, but luckily, I had time for a shower. I turned the water on and discarded my clothes, sighing in content when I stepped in and felt the cool water on my skin. I had finished washing my hair, and was in the process of washing my body when the door suddenly opened.

I quickly poked my head out of the shower curtain to see Roxas's bare back to me. Through the mirror in front of him, I saw him reaching for his toothbrush, paying me no attention.

This was the first time I'd ever seen Roxas without a long sleeve shirt covering his entire upper body. If I wasn't so angry, I would have been in a slight state of shock. I had managed to point out, however, the long, thin scar that ran from one side of his back down to his waist. After that, I looked away, to his face.

"W-What the hell are you doing? I'm in the shower!"

"Yeah, and I'm brushing my teeth," he replied in a bored tone, uncapping the toothpaste and applying some to his toothbrush. I glared at him, but not once did he make eye contact with me through the mirror.

"Roxas, get out! I'm naked!"

"Ask me if I care, Naminé," He began to brush his teeth, looking at only his mouth in the mirror.

"Urgh!" I shut the water off, ignoring the suds of soap that were still sticking to parts of my body, and felt outside the shower curtain for a towel hanging on the rack. I grabbed one, wrapping it around my body before stepping out of the shower/tub. I grabbed my clothes off the floor, not bothering to look at Roxas.

I slammed the bathroom door behind me before storming off to my room and slamming that door behind me as well.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, my hair was half-dry, my teeth were brushed, and my clothes were on. I wore a dark blue, floral dress that fell past my knees and a long, beige sweater that hemmed a bit past my hips over it with grey ankle socks and brown oxfords. I slung my brown satchel over my shoulder before leaving my room, and made my way downstairs.

I was on the last step when Roxas's voice boomed through the house.

"I DON'T NEED FUCKING THERAPY!"

I cringed, and cautiously made my way into the kitchen. Roxas was standing at the island with his back to me and his palms on the granite. The stool he had previously been sitting on was toppled over on the floor behind him. I walked over and dropped my bag to the floor. I set Roxas's stool back up before walking over to a cabinet and pulling out a bowl.

"Morning," I called sarcastically to my Mom and Leon, who were also in the kitchen – both giving Roxas a concerned look. I grabbed the box of Lucky Charms that sat in front of Roxas's bowl.

"Morning," they both replied as I poured myself some cereal and reached for the milk.

"I don't need to go to _fucking therapy_," Roxas spat, his eyes trained on Leon. I took this chance to look at him. His eyes were tired, as they usually were, with dark circles underneath them. His hair was disarray, sticking up in its typical unruly mess. He wore a dark grey shirt with faded red letters on it and his favorite black zip-up hoodie over it. His dark jeans that hung loose on his hips were almost as worn as the old, beige converse that he always wore.

I turned my attention back to my cereal before he could catch me looking at him. I ate slowly, taking caution to the fact that Roxas was ready to go completely haywire at any given moment.

"You do, Roxas. You have for a long time. I'm not putting it off any longer."

"What the hell is a _therapist_ going to do that's going to help me? Sit me down and make me talk about my _feelings_?" He snarled. "Hate to break it to you, Leon, but I haven't had _feelings _in a long time – and no amount of money's going to make someone sit down and listen to the _fucked up_ shit that's going on in my head! And no amount of persuasion's going to get me to sit down and tell some nosey-ass, master-degree holding psycho-therapist – that doesn't even know me –my life story!"

I rolled my eyes. "They're just trying to help, Roxas."

He turned to me, shooting me a glare. "And who asked you, Princess?"

"Roxas, that's enough," Leon announced, his voice laced with aggravation and concern. "This isn't negotiable."

Roxas snorted. "The hell it isn't."

He grabbed his dark green backpack off the counter, slinging it over one shoulder as he left the room.

"Your meds, Roxas," Leon called, his eyes irritated and trained on the ceiling. A moment later, Roxas was shoving past me and opening one of the kitchen drawers. He pulled out three orange pill bottles, one for depression, one for anger management, and one for PTSD. He uncapped one, popping a pill in his mouth and lifting his chin slightly as he swallowed it. He repeated the same motion for the other two bottles, then threw them back into the drawer, and left the room.

A few seconds later, the front door opened, and slammed shut.

I took another bite of my Lucky Charms.

"You'd better go catch up if you want a ride to school," Leon said. I turned my head.

"Can't you drive me?" Both adults gave me a look, and I sighed. I ran over, reaching down to pick up my bag off the floor, and hustled out of the house.

Outside, Roxas was getting into his black '69 Chevy Camaro. I ran over and opened the passenger door, sliding into the seat and dropping my bag on the floorboard. Thankfully, he had nothing to say about it.

We were about five minutes into the drive, cruising down a long, four-lane road with woods on either side, when I decided to make conversation. I reached over, turning down _The White Stripes_, which blared from his car radio.

"Why are you so against therapy?" I asked once the car was silent.

"Leave it, Naminé."

I didn't. "I mean, you're already taking pills. Wouldn't it just be one step above that? Don't you want to get bet-"

"I c_an't _get any better, Naminé! I'm a lost fucking cause, okay? I-I can't go two seconds without remembering my past, I constantly feel like punching a fucking wall in, I'm an asshole to you, your mom, _and _Leon, who constantly has check to see that I'm not cu-" He cut off there, realizing he was about to say something that he didn't want me to know. He moved one hand off the steering wheel to adjust the sleeve of his jacket. I furrowed my eyebrows. What was that about? When Roxas replaced his hands on the steering wheel, he was gripping it with so much force that his knuckles had turned white. He was breathing was jagged and rapid, but he kept his eyes on the road.

"They're just trying to help, Roxas. We care about you-"

He let out a sad sort of laugh. "_Care_? About _me_?" He shook his head, "No one cares about me, Naminé. Not Leon, not your mom, and not you. They hate me. Hell, _I _hate me. And I know you want me out of your life just as much as everyone else does."

His voice was hard; as if he were afraid it might falter. I watched him drive, his eyes still never leaving the road, and felt tears stinging my eyes.

"Roxas…"

"Don't."

"That's not true…" I shook my head, ignoring his order. "It's not…"

"MY PARENTS DIDN'T WANT ME, NAMINÉ!" He yelled suddenly, and I cringed back in my seat. "My dad physically reminded me of that fact _every day_! My mom verballyreminded me of that fact _every second_!So don't try to tell me _I'm loved_. Don't tell me I'm _wanted_. Don't try to convince me to believe that if I was dead, someone would care. Because it's _not_ true. None of that is. I'm _not_ loved. I'm _not_ wanted. And unfortunately, I'm not dead. So _leave it_, Naminé."

"Roxas-"

"LEAVE IT!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, and turned to face the window. I watched with blurred vision as we sped past the trees. Tears streamed down my face, but I made no move to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled.

"Whatever."

Roxas, surprisingly, didn't turn his music back up, so the rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Finally, we pulled into the entrance of the school. Out my window was a block of stone sitting on a hill in the grass that read _Trinity High School_.

Roxas pulled into the parking lot, and circled around, looking for an empty spot. We found one off to the side, underneath a shaded tree, and in between two other vehicles. We made our way to the wide, moderate steps and various buildings that awaited us.

Students pervaded the outer campus. Some sat in the grass, some on the stairs. Others stood in groups and talked amongst themselves. Two boys threw a football back and forth, weaving through the small groups to catch the ball. A group of kids were slumped against a brick wall, smoking cigarettes – at least, I hope they were cigarettes.

I felt eyes on us as we made our way to the administration building. I unconsciously stepped closer to Roxas as we passed a shady-looking guy on the steps that eyed me like I was his prey. Nearly all the girls ogled at Roxas as we walked past. As for me: I don't think I've ever received so many glares.

We stepped into the administration office and stood at the desk of a portly, friendly-faced woman with glasses resting on the top of her nose as she typed away on her computer. Roxas cleared his throat.

The woman looked up, smiling when she saw us. "You two must be the new transfers."

She began digging in one of her desk drawers, pulling out two sheets of paper. "Ah, yes. Roxas Hikari and Naminé Gainsborough, correct?" I nodded, and she handed us the papers. "Here are your class schedules and locker locations. We tried to match them as much as possible. We figured you two would feel more comfortable if near each other." Oh, you could not be more wrong.

"I'm Ms. Potts, your secretary, and I'll be here if you have any questions. Now, first period begins at 7:30. We placed your lockers reasonably close to each other – They're both located upstairs in the Arts wing of the school. I've assigned my first period assistant, Riku, to show you both around."

I turned my head, now noticing that there was someone else in the room. A tall boy with long, silver hair that covered most of his bright, turquoise eyes stood beside her desk. He smiled, giving a mock solute with two fingers.

"First period begins in fifteen minutes, which should be plenty of time for you to get acquainted with our campus," She smiled again, looking at the both of us. "Do either of you have any questions?"

I shook my head, and Roxas looked away. Mrs. Potts gave him a concerned look. "Well… okay, then! Off you go now, there's much to see. Riku, if you'd take it from here?"

"Sure," The boy walked up to us, jerking his thumb towards the door. "This way, guys."

He took us out the door we came in, and I shivered at the cool autumn air hit me. Riku lead us toward the entrance of the school, which consisted of a large glass wall, with three sets of glass double-doors. The words TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL were in silver letters above the doors. "Alright, welcome to Trinity - student body: 1,726, asshole percentage of teachers: 68, number of bugs found in the school lunches last year: 42," he gestured to the area around us, "This is the outer campus," he turned around, glancing at us, "It's where all the offices are loca- Hey, where'd he go?"

We stopped walking, and I turned to see that Roxas was no longer beside me. I sighed in frustration. "Don't worry about him. He does that."

"He seems a little… angry."

"You have no idea," Riku gave me a sympathizing smile, which I returned. "I'm Naminé."

"Riku," We shook hands, and he smiled cheerfully. "Should we get on with the tour? Or do you share your brother's enthusiasm for new kid traditions?"

"He's not my brother," I stated quickly. When I realized what I'd said, I shook my head. "I-I mean, _yes_, he's my… Well, step-brother," Riku gave me a confused look. "But he was adopted, and he's not really uh… You know what, never mind."

Riku laughed, and we began walking again. "I get it. It's complication."

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, Naminé, the not-sister of Roxas, this-" He pushed open the large, glass doors to the school. "Is Trinity High School."

We faced large, high-ceilinged foyer, with many balconies and staircases. Students walked back and forth between different hallways. Some sat on the stairs, some on benches, some stood in groups and talked to their friends. At one point, a boy upstairs ran to the balcony and jumped off, running down a hallway. Seconds later, another boy did the same, chasing after him.

"Jeez," I mumbled. The foyer alone seemed three times bigger than my previous school's entire campus.

Riku chuckled. "The main building consists of three wings, Science, Arts, and Language. Science is where you'll have your math and science classes, Arts is where all your electives take place, and Language is where your English, Social Studies, and Language classes are. Over there you can find the theater and library, where I'll take you to get your textbooks. Out those doors is the soccer field, and beyond that is the gym."

"O-Okay," I nod, trying to remember all of that. Riku laughs again.

"Come on, I'll show you around. What classes do you have?"

"Um…" I glance down at my schedule. "World History, English III, Environment, and French."

"In that order?" I nod. "Cool. We have English and Environment together. You have first lunch, right?"

I glance down at my schedule. "Yeah."

"Me too. You'll go there after second period."

"Do I not have a math course?"

"Your schedule changes after Winter Break, when the new semester starts, so you'll have all new classes then. Now, let's go get your textbooks. Then, I'll show you to your locker and homeroom."

I followed him to the main building, where he took me to the library and got me my four textbooks. Riku then took me upstairs, to the Arts wing, helping me carry them as he showed me to my locker. He taught me how to put in the combination, before storing my books inside, excluding my History book. We then proceeded to the Language wing, where my first period was.

"Here we are," We stopped at a room with a sign that read MR. VERNON WORLD HISTORY above the door.

A sudden ringing sounded throughout the school.

"And that'll be the bell," Riku smiled and handed me my World History book. "I'll be outside waiting when class is over to show you where our English class is, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded. "Thanks a lot, Riku."

"No problem!" We stepped aside as a few students made their way into the classroom. "See you after class."

He proceeded down the hall, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he did so. I watched as most of the kids greeted him as they passed. He must be pretty popular.

I took a deep breath and entered the classroom, pretending not to notice the eyes of the students on me as I made my way to the teacher; a tall, thin man with brown hair and a thick mustache who was writing on the chalk board.

"Um, excuse me?" I mumbled, and he turned. I cleared my throat, trying to shake off the nerves. "I'm-"

"Naminé, correct?" I hesitated, but nodded. Students continued to enter the classroom, their eyes on me as they filled the empty seats. "Welcome to Trinity. Just find an empty seat to occupy, and we'll get you caught up as much as we can."

"O-Okay," I turned towards the rows of desks. Some students stared at me shamelessly, while others sat in or on desks and talked with their friends. I walked down one of the aisles, and stopped at the second-to-last row. There was an empty desk in the middle column, so I sat down, dropping my bag to the floor. The girl in front of me turned around and gave me a smile, which I returned.

"I'm Olette."

"Naminé."

She turned back around when the bell sounded again, and Mr. Vernon called the class to order.

"Alright, class, let's get started. First of all, we have a new stu-"

The door opened suddenly, and Roxas stepped in.

This should be fun.

I assumed someone was holding the door for him, because he walked in with both his hands in his jacket pockets. Plus, the door stayed open when he was in the room. Mr. Vernon cleared his throat. "Excuse me, _two _new students. How nice of you to join us. I'm assuming you're Roxas?"

Roxas gave him a single nod, and the teacher exhaled in frustration.

"Thank you for escorting him here, Mr. Flynn, you may go to your homeroom now," I leaned to the side to try and see who he was speaking to, but couldn't get a glance.

"You got it, Teach," The voice said, and the door closed. My. Vernon sighed and gestured to Roxas.

"Class these are our new students, Roxas," he gestured to me in the back. "And Naminé. Please try and make them feel welcome. Roxas you may take a seat."

Roxas wordlessly strode down one of the aisles, all the way to the empty back row. Guys gave him skeptical looks as he passed, most likely due to the fact that he had the eye of every girl in the room. Even Olette was checking him out. Roxas sat in the seat diagonally behind me, and I turned slightly to see him drop his back on his desk. A second later, his head was resting on his folded arms.

Mr. Vernon sighed again, muttering something under his breath. I wondered whether or not the school was informed of Roxas's conditions.

"Anyway," He began, "Today we will be continuing our lesson on the Roman Empire. Turn your books to page 356 and get out a sheet of paper for notes…"

The class period lasted longer than I expected. Mr. Vernon was perhaps the dullest teacher I had ever encountered, and I admittedly dozed of a few times. Roxas, on the other hand, had slept through the entire thing.

I kept wondering about the guy who had brought Roxas in. He was a student, clearly, but how did Roxas know him? Were they friends? Had Roxas actually _talked _to someone?

The bell rang, and I collected my things. I glanced back at Roxas, only to see that he was already halfway out the door. I sighed and made my way out of the room, where Riku was leaning up against the wall, waiting for me.

I noticed he already had his English book in his hand. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Ms. Potts let me leave the office early so I could help you," he answered as we began walking to our next class. "So, how many times did you doze off?"

"Do you have him too?"

He snorted. "Oh yeah. Fourth Period. Hate him."

"He's pretty uh…"

"Boring?" He glanced at me, and I laughed.

"Yeah."

Riku sighed. "That's Vernon for ya. Meet anyone in there?"

"A girl named Olette introduced herself," We were at my locker, and I suddenly remember what I had wanted to ask him. I reached out to dial in my combination. "Riku, do you know anyone with the last name Flynn?"

Riku quirked an eyebrow. "My best friend's last name is Flynn. But I'm certain she doesn't have Vernon. How do you know her?"

I shook my head as I replaced my History book with my English book. "No, it was guy."

Riku nodded in understanding, and I closed my locker. We began making our way to English. "You mean her brother, Axel," he paused, furrowing his eyebrows. "_He _was in your first period?"

I shook my head again. "No, he brought Roxas in. I was just wondering… Roxas doesn't usually talk to anyone."

"Oh, that makes more sense. But the fact that your broth–I mean Roxas– is hanging around him may not be such a good thing…"

"What?" I turned to him as we stopped in front of a classroom labeled MRS. BARLOW ENGLISH III. "Why not?"

Riku pursed his lips and opened the door. "I'll just let Kairi answer that one."

I gave him a confused look, "Kairi?"

We walked in the room, and Riku nodded to someone. Seated in the front desk closest to the door was a girl with shoulder-length red hair and big, indigo eyes. She was quickly glancing back and forth between two sheets of notebook paper, scribbling something down on one of them.

"Forget to do your homework again?" He remarked, and the girl looked up. She smiled sheepishly when she saw it was him.

"Shut up," She noticed me standing awkwardly next to Riku, and smiled, confusion etched across her face. "Hi there."

Riku sat in the seat next to her. "Kairi, this is Naminé. Her and her…" Riku glanced at me, as if asking confirmation, "-step-brother just transferred here. I'm showing her around."

"Oh, hi!" She chirped, as I made my way to the desk behind her. "Nice to meet you."

I smiled. "You too."

"Can I see your schedule?" She asked, turning around to face me. I reached down into my satchel to pull out the piece of paper, handing it to her. "Thanks."

She skimmed it over, smiling as she handed it to me when she finished. "We have Environment together. We also have the same lunch, if you want to sit together."

"I'd like that. Thanks."

"No problem!" The teacher walked in the room then, causing Kairi to gasp and begin scribbling down on the sheet of paper again.

"You really need to make it up to Sora for always letting you copy his homework."

"I do not_ always _copy Sora's homework," She retorted, then paused momentarily. "How would I make it up to him?"

"Well, you could start by kissing him and then-"

"Very funny," Kairi cut off, her eyes still on her work. As I got up to introduce myself to the teacher, I noticed her blushing.

"Wasn't a joke…" I heard Riku mutter under his breath as I walked past him towards the teacher's desk.

I approached the young-looking woman who was shuffling through papers that I assumed to be our teacher. She couldn't be any older than thirty. She had dark hair that was pulled back, and a pair of glasses on a chain around her neck. I cleared my throat.

"Mrs. Barlow?"

"Hm?" She looked up. "Ah, you must be Naminé."

"Yes ma'am."

"Welcome to English. I assume you have your textbook already," I nodded, and she smiled, opening one of her desk drawers. "Good. Here's your copy of the book we began a few days ago. You'll need to catch up to page 40 tonight for homework."

She handed me a paperback book, the cover of which read _The_ _Catcher in the Rye_. I nodded, and turned to make my way back to my seat. I realized that the classroom was now full. This class, thankfully, was not as interested in my being here as the last class, and I was able to make it to my seat without feeling watched.

The door opened, and in strode Roxas. He walked down the first aisle, ignoring me completely, and sat down in the last seat of Riku's row.

"Whoa," Kairi mumbled. "Who is that?"

"That's my step-brother," I answered, "Roxas."

"_That's him_?" She had turned around in her seat fully now, and was glancing back and forth between us. "You _live _with him?"

I nodded slowly, not understanding what she was hinting at. "Yeah… why?"

"He's so…-" Angry? Depressing? Mean? "-_hot._"

My head snapped up. "Come again?"

Riku rolled his eyes.

Kairi gawked at Roxas shamelessly, "I mean, _look _at him. Don't tell me you don't see it."

I cautiously glanced over my shoulder at Roxas, whose head was down.

Oh, I saw it. I'd been _seeing _it since the first moment I met him. There was no denying that Roxas was handsome. His sandy blond hair was always styled in the perfect mess, especially with the way his bangs swept across the top of his head and fell around his eyes. When he got close to me, I could see the small freckles sprinkled across his tan cheeks. That is, when I wasn't too busy watching the way his blue eyes smoldered in the light.

Had I ever admitted to my attraction out loud? Of course not. Who'd want to admit that the sight of their hateful step-brother was enough to make their heart start pounding in their chest? Not me.

I turned back to Kairi, ready to deny it, but paused when I saw the smirk on her face.

"W-What?"

"Oh, you _definitely_ see it," she turned around in her seat before I could object. I turned to Riku, who just shrugged. I rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat as Mrs. Barlow began her lesson.

"Hey, Kairi?" I asked as we walked out of the room. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. "Go ahead."

"Well… Your brother, Axel, showed Roxas to class this morning, which is weird because Roxas usually tells off anyone who tries to talk to him," Kairi nodded slowly, not quite understanding what I was getting at, "And Riku mentioned something about it not being a good idea for Roxas to be around him…" Kairi glanced at Riku, who gave her a knowing look, "He told me to ask you about it so... I mean, I don't mean to make it out like your brother's a bad guy – I just didn't know–"

Kairi shook her head. "No, it's okay. My brother _is_ kind of a bad influence. He just hangs out with the wrong crowd. He's in a gang called Organization XIII… And they're not exactly… _good_ people to be around."

"O-Oh." Roxas wouldn't really join a _gang_, would he?

"That's kind of an understatement, Kairi," Riku added.

"I know… I mean, Axel's a good guy… he just does bad things."

"Well, what kinds of bad things?" I ask, though afraid to hear the answer.

We were walking through the Cafeteria doors now, and the noise of the student-filled dining hall surrounded us. We walked over and stood in the food line that was slowly forming.

"Break into places, deface public property – mostly in the city, get into fights, run from authority. There's also another gang that they don't exactly get along with-"

"They hate each other," Riku corrected.

"-Yeah," Kairi sighed. "Something like that."

I tried to register the thought of Roxas being a criminal. He wouldn't do such things, would he? "So it's bad for Roxas to be around him?"

"My brother? Not at all. But…" Kairi's eyes trailed off to the side, and I turned to see what she was looking at. "The XIII on the other hand..."

Roxas had just walked through the doors of the cafeteria, his hands in his pockets and his eyes scanning the room. There were five kids with him; three boys and two girls. The one next to him was tall and had spiky, flaming red hair and piercing green eyes with two upside-down triangle tattoos beneath them. He wore grey jeans and combat boots, with a ragged bandana tied around one ankle, and a short-sleeve, flannel shirt unbuttoned with a black, long-sleeved shirt underneath with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows. On his wrists were tattered, string-like bracelets and on his hands were leather gloves that cut off at his knuckles. I immediately assumed him to be Axel, due to the red hair that matched Kairi's.

The boy behind him was just as tall with sandy-blond hair styled in a mullet. He had joyful eyes and a smile plastered on his face as if it was a constant feature. He wore jeans and worker boots, and had a white V-neck underneath a dark blue jacket that looked like that of someone who worked in a car garage. The oval nametag patched to it read "Demyx".

The boy off to the side had the hood of his black jacket up, but his silver bangs stuck out from under it and swept over his blue eyes. He was short - shorter than Roxas, and wore baggy pants and tennis shoes. Under his arm was a book.

The girl next to Demyx was tall and skinny, with short, blonde hair that was slicked back apart from two antennas that stood up. The intimidating gaze she gave off with her green eyes gave me chills, and I wondered how Roxas stood to be near her. She was wearing a feminine leather jacket and skinny jeans, and high heels that made her tall frame even more intimidating.

The girl next to Roxas was very pixie-like. She was a bit shorter than him, and had short, ebony hair that framed her face and big, blue eyes. She had on a plain, form fitting, long-sleeved black shirt and dark skinny jeans, which were tucked under her Doc Martin's. A red jacket was tied around her waist.

"Naminé?" I turned to Kairi, not realized I had been staring at them. "The line's moving."

I noticed that there was a large gap in between us and the students in front of us. "O-Oh." We moved forward, and I turned back to Roxas's group. "Is that them?"

"Mhm," Riku answered. "The youngest of them, anyway. The rest are in their twenties or something."

"How old are _they_?" I asked, my eyes still trained on them.

"Axel, Demyx, Larxene, and Zexion are all Seniors. They're all eighteen, apart from Zexion – who's seventeen," Kairi told me as we moved forward in the line, "Xion's a junior. She's seventeen and the youngest in the group."

"Which is which…?" I wondered out loud. The group walked over to the food line opposite us, standing in the back. I had to lean around the groups of students to see them as Kairi named them off.

"Axel's the one with the red hair, which you probably already guess. Demyx is the blonde guy with the mullet, Larxene is the tall blonde girl, Zexion's the short guy with the book, and Xion's the girl with black hair next to Roxas."

I nodded and turned away from them as we approached the counter. Kairi and Riku grabbed their trays, picking up the dishes they wanted as they passed them. I did the same, getting the daily special (chef's salad) and a pudding cup with tea. We bought our food and went to one of the many round tables placed in the hall. The fact that Riku and Kairi went directly to it made me think it was a regular spot. We sat down, with me in between Riku and Kairi.

We sat and ate, talking mostly about me and how I was adjusting.

"You'll most likely love Mr. Burton. He's probably the coolest teacher in the entire school. He's funny."

"Cool," I smiled, stabbing my salad and getting a bite onto my fork. Suddenly, a boy jumped into the seat beside Kairi, making me gasp and drop my plastic utensil. Riku chuckled at me.

"What'cha got for me, Kai?" The boy asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and lifting up her sandwich "Ooh, grilled cheese!"

A blush rose to Kairi's cheeks, and I immediately assumed the boy to be Sora.

He had tan skin and boyish features. His chestnut hair was spiked high in all different directions, some of it falling and landing in his face, kind of like how Roxas's does. His eyes were light blue and rimmed with dark lashes, and his cheeks were currently puffed out due to the fact that he was stuffing his face with Kairi's grilled cheese. I smiled at the sight. He was cute.

Kairi leaned over the table, looking past me at Riku. "_This_, Riku, is how I make it up to him."

"Mwake whut upfh to meh?" Sora asked, his words muffled by the food in his mouth.

"It's a wonder you haven't starved, Kairi," Riku remarked, and Kairi chucked, leaning past her tray to where her bag was placed on the table. She pulled out a sheet of notebook paper, handing it to Sora.

"Here's your homework."

Sora swallowed his food this time before speaking, "Oh, thanks. Here's your sandwich."

Kairi laughed as he took one last bite before handing it to her, half gone. "Thanks."

Sora swallowed his final bite of grilled cheese and finally noticed my presence. "Oh, hey! Who are you?"

Riku snorted. "Excuse his bluntness."

I smiled, trying not to laugh. "I'm Naminé. I just transferred here."

"I'm Sora," he pointed to his chest with his thumb, and then leaned over Kairi to hold out his hand. I took it and he shook mine wildly. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I chuckled. He sat back, looked around the room, and then turned to Kairi.

"Wanna go with me to get lunch?" He asked hopefully. She nodded.

"Sure."

Sora removed his arm as they stood from the table, but swung it back over her when they walked off in order to rush her to the lunch line. I smirked at the sight, turning to Riku.

"So what's up with those two?" I asked him, and he chuckled.

"They're about as in love as Cinderella and Prince Charming."

My eyes widened. "Are they going out?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Sora, Kairi, and I have been best friends since we were five. They're both too afraid to admit their feelings."

"And you've never tried to…-" I struggled for the right word, "-instigate?"

Riku laughed. "I gave up on that a _long _time ago. They're both way too oblivious to see it. Hard to believe since they're both so…"

"Obvious?" I guessed, and he chuckled.

"Exactly."

"Well, that's awful. They should be together."

Riku shook his head. "Tell that to them."

"Maybe I will-" I stood up.

"No, no, no, no, no," Riku put a hand on my shoulder, bringing me back down into my seat. "Bad idea unless you're a fan of red faces and repeated denial."

I frowned. "Oh."

The couple approached the table again, but this time, both of Sora's hands held his lunch tray. As they took their seat, something coming from behind me caught my attention.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" I looked over my shoulder to see Roxas and his group of friends sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. Axel had his head thrown back, and was laughing uncontrollably. The blonde girl, Larxene, stood behind Demyx with an insulted look on her face. Her bottle of water was tipped on its side over his head, which was now soaked. Xion was also laughing. Zexion had his eyes on his book, but was shaking his head and smirking. I looked to Roxas, who watched the scene with amusement in his eyes. The corner of his lips was even turned up to an almost-smile.

It was, sadly, the closest thing I've ever seen to him being okay.

"So," Kairi spoke, noticing my gaze. "Worried yet?"

I turned back around and stabbed my fork into my salad, considering her question. "Kinda. I'm more… surprised. Roxas doesn't usually talk to _anyone._ I'm just trying to figure out what made him join an entire group of people on his first day."

"Who's Roxas?" Sora asked, before chomping into his own grilled cheese.

"My step-brother," Sora hummed in understanding, nodding his head as he eyed his sandwich.

"If you don't mind me asking," Kairi began, "What's… wrong with him, exactly?"

I debated the question, going over the things in my head that would be appropriate to tell them. "My step dad adopted him a few years ago. He had some… really serious family issues and was on the streets alone. Both of his parents are dead, and he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - That, Anger Management, and Depression. He doesn't talk much at home – just sits in his room and stares at the ceiling most of the time. I've known him for two years and still don't know much about him."

My voice was shaking as I told them about Roxas. I played with my salad, moving the cherry tomatoes around with my fork as I kept my eyes trained on my tray. When I finished, I cleared my throat, lifting my head to see their reactions.

Kairi looked shocked, ad purely concerned. Sora's eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was opened slightly, as if he were looking for something to say. I turned to Riku, whose lips were in a tight, sympathizing line.

"Wow," Kairi mumbled. "That's…"

"That's awful…" Sora finished for her, and she nodded.

"And you guys just moved here?" Riku asked.

I nodded. "Yesterday. My mom and Leon – his adoptive father – got married a month ago, and we needed a bigger house that was still close to Leon's coffee shop in the city."

"Is Leon an okay guy?" Sora asked, and I nodded again.

"The best. Roxas is lucky to have him."

Riku sensed my discomfort in the topic, and began drumming his hands on the table. "Well," He ruffled my hair. "We're lucky to have _you._"

I chuckled, and Sora spoke up. "Yeah! We should all hang out this weekend! I vote Kairi's house!"

"Sure," Kairi confirmed. "You guys can sleep over."

I smiled, thankful that I had met them. They were each so nice and caring… it gave me hope that maybe Roxas's friends were the same way.

"Oh, come on, Larx! It was a joke!"

I turned my head towards Roxas's table, where the blonde girl was stomping off. She threw Axel the middle finger as she left the Cafeteria with a menacing look on her face.

Maybe not.

* * *

**typewrite**: First off, thank you so much to **GummyDrive, illusional writer, Yifei Li, musicbox, Crepe-lover, Namixas-Forever **for your reviews. I really hope you continue to follow my story. Also, big thanks to those who subscribed to Learning To Breathe. It means a lot to me.

I'm REALLY sorry for the language. I hate using it, just like I know how most hate reading it. I just feel it's the best approach to Roxas's character. Hopefully, it'll lesson up as the story progresses.

I know I went all-out with the detail of the characters in this chapter. I really wanted to portray each of their styles, though. I can almost guarantee I won't be going into full-on detail of each and every outfit they wear. It was more of an introduction method.

If you'd like a list of really great Kingdom Hearts fanfics to read, you can look at my profile, where I post the stories I'm currently obsessing over. Also, if you've got a KH fanfic you want me to check out, lemme know in a review. I'll check it out and leave you a review. Just so long as it's not some crazy, M-Rated Yaoi that'll leave me scarred for life.

I do not own any of the music or bands mentioned in this chapter.

The song that inspired this chapter was "Hey Boys and Girls (Truth of the World, Pt. 2)" by _Evermore_. It's the song I imagined playing while Roxas and Naminé were walking up to the school.

The song playing while Naminé put her clothes away was a cover of _The Naked & Famous_'s"Young Blood" by _Birdy_. The song Roxas played in the car on the way to school was "Fell In Love With A Girl" by _The White Stripes. _The song Roxas was listening to in his room after dinner was "Hot Like Fire" by _The XX. _

Thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know if you see any mistakes/errors. See you next week!


	3. The Hikari Brothers

**3. The Hikari Brothers **

"And that is probably why you should never hand-feed a crocodile cheese balls..."

The entire class erupted into laughter. Mr. Burton spun around in his chair a few times before kicking his feet up on his desk.

"It's not very polite to laugh at the misfortune of others, you know. I couldn't feel my butt for a week," he scolded as he looked up projection screen, changing the slide of the PowerPoint.

"You were kind of asking for it with that story, Mr. B," Riku retorted, and Sora chuckled. Mr. Burton mock-laughed, and pointed to the screen with a pointing-stick.

"En-ee-way," he began, drawing out his syllables, "The largest crocodile species is that of the saltwater crocodile, otherwise known as Crocodylus Porosus. Jeez, that sounds like some sort of foot disease–" The class laughed, "–It can reach up to seven meters in length and one ton in weight and can have up to…"

Kairi and Riku were right. Mr. Burton was – without a doubt – the coolest teacher I've ever had. He was young – in his early twenties – and short. Very short. He was almost as short as me, and I'm only 5'4''. My first impression of him kind of reminded me of Demyx; happy-go-lucky with a permanent, goofy smile on his face.

When I walked into the classroom, he introduced me to each and every one of his pet fish – which he had in a large, cylindrical tank in the center of the class. After that, he introduced his bunny, Cleo, which he let roam freely around the room during class. A cockatoo also sat in a cage in the corner of the room, and I was a little surprised when he introduced _himself_ as Roger. Only after he introduced each and every one of his animals did Mr. Burton finally introduce himself and instruct me to sit at any of the lab tables I wanted.

Each lab table had two stools, both which faced the board. Kairi and I sat at one table, while Sora and Riku sat at the one in front of us. Roxas (who, again, came in late to class and said not one word to the teacher) sat alone two tables behind us.

"Later guys!" Kairi called as she and Riku walked off in the opposite direction after class. Sora and I had French together, which I had learned during third period, when he asked to see my schedule. We made way to our lockers, which were surprisingly close to each other.

"So, what did you thing of Mr. B?" He asked, waving to a kid who greeted him as we passed.

"He's really cool. I almost don't believe he's a teacher. Does he always let that bunny hop around during class?"

Sora nodded. "Yep. You'll get used to it eventually."

I laughed as we parted for a moment to go to our lockers. While Roxas's locker was only a few down from mine (I had seen him and Axel putting his books away after lunch), Sora's was on the other side of the hallway.

I placed my Environment textbook back in my locker, pulling out my French book. Sora met up with me again, and we made our way to our last class of the day.

Madame Duval was an older woman in her early sixties. Though she taught French, she spoke very proper English. She corrected me when I answered her "yeah" instead of "yes" when she asked if I had made any friends.

Luckily, she allowed me to sit next to Sora, and we chose two seats by the large glass window on the far end of the room. I had also concluded that I had every one of my classes with Roxas when he walked in seconds before the bell rang. I wanted to point him out to Sora, but he was too busy texting on his phone – probably to Kairi.

Mrs. Duval, unlike the other teachers, called Roxas over to her desk. She spoke with him in a very hushed tone, but it seemed to be a kind one. Roxas nodded his head when she finished speaking to him. She put a hand on his shoulder gentle, and surprisingly, he didn't flinch. He just muttered something to her, most likely an "okay" or "thank you", and walked off to the back row of the class.

Five minutes after class had already begun, and Madame Duval was instructing us on the proper use of liaisons, the door burst open. I gasped when a boy who looked almost identical to Sora strutted into the room. His features were exactly the same – the hair, the shape of his face… The only slight differences were that he was a bit taller and paler than Sora. Also his hair, as opposed to Sora's chocolate brown color, was jet-black. His eyes, though the same shape and size as Sora's, were amber instead of sky blue.

I watched with a confused look as Sora looked up at the boy, then rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to his phone, muttering something under his breath that sounded something like "late _again_".

"That's a detention for tardiness, Vanitas."

"Like I care." My eyes widened when I realized that the boy also _sounded _a lot like Sora, but with more huskiness to his voice. I could also tell that the harsh tone he used was a permanent attribute.

The boy, Vanitas, strode to the back of the room, but paused in the middle of the isle when he spotted Roxas lying with his arms on his desk. Vanitas's gaze hardened as he strode over to Roxas's desk in determination. My eyes widened at the site, and I tensed up. What was he going to do?

Vanitas slammed his palms on either side of Roxas's desk, and my step-brother shot up, an alarmed and confused look on his face. His eyes widened when they saw Vanitas, as did mine when I saw the confusion and slight fear in them.

"What are _you_ doing he-"

"Vanitas! To your desk at once!" Madame Duval hollered, cutting Roxas off. Vanitas glared at Roxas a moment longer before striding to his seat in the back corner of the class.

I kept my eyes on Vanitas as I whispered to his look-alike in front of me. "Sora, do you kno-"

"Ventus?"

I turned to look at Sora in confusion. He was turned around in his seat, his eyes trained on Roxas, who, upon hearing him, shot his head in our direction. The two looked at each other for a moment, before Roxas turned to look at Vanitas again, then back to Sora. Sora looked to Vanitas, who looked to Roxas, who stood up, grabbed his bag, and sped out of the room.

I looked at Sora in utter confusion. His mouth was opening and closing as he tried to speak, but nothing came out. I grabbed my bag and ran out after Roxas.

I ran after him, calling his name, until we were in the school parking lot. He got in his car, slamming the door shut. I ran over to the passenger side, doing the same.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked after I shut the door, dropping my bag onto the floorboard.

"Do you know them? Those guys?" He demanded, turning to me after he started the car.

"I-I I know Sora-"

"Sora?"

"Yes, Sora: the boy that was sitting in front of me," Roxas backed out, and began to speed towards the lot exit, "Why, do you know them?"

"Shut up, Naminé!"

I shook my head incredulously. "W-What? You can't just run out of class after an encounter like that and _not_ tell me what's going on, Roxas!"

"I know them," he replied, to my surprise. Roxas was actually _telling _me something? "Both of them."

"How?" We began driving down the long road surrounded by woods, making our way home.

"They went to my old school."

So Roxas actually _knew_ people at his old school? How did he know them then?

"Why did Sora call you Ventus?"

Roxas hit the brakes momentarily, and I jolted forward in my seat. He began to speed down the road again. "Roxas?"

"It's nothing, Naminé."

"It's not nothing-!"

"LEAVE IT!" I shrunk back in my seat, deciding it would be best if I listened to him. Whatever the story was behind Ventus, it must have been a sensitive subject.

We drove the rest of the way home in silence, without even the sound of Roxas's stereo filling the car. We pulled up to the house fifteen minutes later, and I opened my door to get out. I pick up my bag off the floorboard, and noticed that Roxas was waiting patiently behind the wheel, the engine still running.

"Aren't you getting out?" I asked.

"I've got somewhere to be," was all he said. I accepted that it was all I was going to get out of him, and stepped out of the car. I walked to the front door, and watched as Roxas drove off.

Where did he have to be?

"Naminé, why are you home so early?" I heard when I closed the front door. I began to make my way up the stairs, but stopped when my mom entered the foyer. "Where's Roxas?"

"Said he had somewhere to be," I told her, and then proceeded to my room, ignoring her first question.

I collapsed onto my bed the second I entered my room. Why did everything have to be in the dark when it came to Roxas? How did he know Sora and Vanitas? And why did Sora call Roxas Ventus? Who was he? Why didn't Roxas want to talk about him?

I groaned into my pillow. If it had to do with Roxas, I might as well just give up my investigation now.

I flipped over on my bed, staring at my ceiling fan as it turned at moderate speed. Where did Roxas have to go? Was it with Axel? Was he hanging out with the thirteen?

"Urgh, who cares?" I scolded myself, sitting up on my bed. I reached over to my schoolbag and pulled out _A Catcher In The Rye_. I shouldn't be wasting so much time worrying about Roxas. He can take care of himself.

…Right?

I groaned again, falling back onto the mattress.

This boy was going to drive me insane.

* * *

I didn't know why I was still awake. Maybe it was my conscious knowledge of the fact that it was one in the morning and Roxas still hadn't come home yet. Leon had called his phone numerous times throughout the evening, but each time it went straight to voicemail.

I made my way downstairs for a glass of water, struggling to see in the pitch-black house. I heard the sounds of a TV upon entering the kitchen, and look over and see Leon passed out on the couch in the living room, with the local news on the television screen. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for Roxas.

I used the small amount of light provided by the TV to open a cabinet and pull out a glass. A scowl appeared on my face as I thought of Roxas. How dare he leave without giving anyone a clue as to where he was going? He left Leon and my mom worried sick!

After filling my glass with water from the sink and turning off the TV in the living room, I headed back upstairs with my drink in hand. I closed my door once in my room and took a sip of water.

He's going to get a piece of my mind when he comes home. Regardless of whether or not he thinks we don't care about him, he can't just–

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

My glass shattered against the wooden floorboards of my room as I dropped it with a small shriek. My head snapped in the direction of my window, where the knocking had sounded from. A dark figure sat crouched on the short roof in front of my window, holding his hand to the glass and peering inside. I stood by my door, frozen in place.

"_Naminé!_" The person outside of my window called in a hushed tone. I immediately recognized the voice as Roxas's, and sighed in relief. I took a step towards the window, completely forgetting about the glass of water that had just shattered in front of me. Glass dug into my foot, and I let out a gasp of pain as it penetrated my skin. I almost slipped on the water too, but was able to catch myself of the doorknob.

"Naminé?" Roxas called again, this time in a louder, concerned tone upon hearing the commotion. I exhaled and hopped towards window on my foot that didn't have glass in it. I unlocked it and slid it open, shuffling to the side so he could climb in. I could hardly see him in the dark, especially since the hood of his jacket was up.

"_What the hell is wrong with you? You scared the shit out of me!_" I whispered in a harsh tone. I didn't curse often – mainly because I didn't think it suited me. But I was so angry now, I just didn't care.

"_What did you_ want_ me to do? All the doors and windows were locked!_"

"_So you knock on _my_ window? What's wrong with the front door?_"

"_I didn't want Leon seeing me!" _

"_Why? He already knows you didn't come home! He fell asleep on the couch waiting for you, you know! You could at least have the decency to call and let him know-"_

"_Like Leon cares what I do_,"He spat, and began making his way out of my room. I exhaled in frustration and took a step towards my bed, but gasped in pain when I remembered that my foot had a chunk of glass in it.

Roxas stopped and turned to me. "What happened?"

"N-Nothing," I grunted, using my bed for support as I hopped past him, towards my door. He trailed after me, stepping over the glass and water as he followed me into bathroom.

I turned on the light, ignoring the fact that Roxas was standing in the doorway, and hoisted myself onto the bathroom counter to get a better look at the bottom my foot. I winced at the sight of it covered in smeared blood, with a chunk of glass stuck right in the pad beneath my toes.

"Christ, Naminé," Roxas mumbled.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you knock on a girl's window in the middle of the ni-" I gasped when I turned to him, finally getting a look at the state he was in. The skin beneath his right eyebrow was cut horizontally, and the area around his eye was threatening to turn blue. He had a large cut on the side of his cheek, just below his right eye. A dried-up trail of blood was left below it, making its way to his jawline where it cut off. The knuckles of his right hand, which had always held jagged scars, were now torn and bloodied as well. His hair was messier than usual, and damp with sweat. "W-What happened to you…?"

But he only shook his head, walking over to me. "Nothing."

He gestured for me to move my hand, and I did, letting him take my foot in his palm and prop it up on my knee for him to see. He examined it for a moment, and then proceeded to take the shard of glass in-between his thumb and pointer finger.

"Wait-"

"Don't be a baby," He told me, before yanking the glass out of my food. I bit on my bottom lip, holding back a cry as my fingers dug into the edge of the countertop. When the shard was out, I glared at him.

"_Ow_!" I hissed.

"It's _out_, isn't it?" He asked sarcastically as he continued to discard the smaller pieces of glass from my foot.

"Well, you didn't have to be so rough!"

"_Well_, maybe if you weren't such a klutz-"

"_Maybe_ if you hadn't been out so late-"

"Oh, like _you_ care whether or not I'm out late," he spat, tossing another small piece of glass into the sink before grabbing a washcloth and soaking it. As he leaned forward, I noticed his flimsy, red-leather notebook sticking out of his back pocket. It was something he always had on him, and was always scribbling in. No one knew what he wrote in there. I was too afraid to ask, but I assumed music lyrics or something.

Roxas took the wet cloth and began wiping the bottom of my foot, being cautious around the open cut.

I ignored his previous comment and eyed him in confusion. "Why are you helping me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Why are you asking questions?"

I sighed in frustration. "Just _answer_ it."

Roxas paused, glancing up at me for a moment from beneath his long, dark eyelashes. My breath caught in my throat, and I looked away. He went back to cleaning my wound.

"It's technically my fault you're hurt so…" He shrugged, tilting his head.

"Wait, you mean you actually _care_?"

He let out a single, irritated huff and rolled his eyes. "Not what I said."

"But it's what you _implied_," I pressed, inwardly begging him to admit to it.

"_No_, it's not-"

"It is. If you didn't care you wouldn't have-"

"You know what?" He snapped, stepping away and throwing the wet washcloth onto the counter. "Do it yourself."

Roxas stormed out of the bathroom. I watched as he walked across the hall to his room, and winced when the door slammed shut behind him.

I guess he didn't care after all.

* * *

I limped down the stairs the next morning feeling antsy. Today I had been planning to ask Sora about Vanitas, and how the two of them knew Roxas. It also bothered me that I still didn't know who Ventus was.

Not to mention the fact the last night had left me feeling… weird – Almost disappointed. I had really convinced myself that Roxas was starting to break down his walls. And what had happened to him? Did he get into a fight? Did he and _Axel_ get into a fight?

I shook my head of all thought regarding Roxas as I entered the kitchen. I said good morning to my mom and Leon, who were at the island drinking coffee, while running a hand through my damp hair. At least I was able to shower this morning without any interruptions.

Leon eyed my leg as I limped towards the fridge. "What happened to you?"

I glanced down at my foot, which was hidden beneath my oxfords. "I uh… dropped a glass last night and stepped on a broken piece."

He chuckled at my clumsiness. "You okay?"

I nodded as I opened the fridge. I was grateful that my mom had decided to stock the kitchen while Roxas and I were at school yesterday. I pulled out a carton of orange juice and poured myself a glass before leaning up against the counter, sipping it.

"I went into Roxas's room around five to check and see if he had come home. Kid was passed out on his bed like nothing even happened."

"Did you wake him? Ask him where he was?" My mom asked.

"No, I let him sleep. I'll talk to him about it later."

I looked at the clock above the stove, which read 7:10. Why was Roxas not down yet? We should've been gone ten minutes ago!

"Is he still asleep?" I asked, hurriedly limping my way towards the foyer.

"I don't know. Did you not wake him up?" Leon called after me.

"No, I thought his alarm was set!" I hollered back, quickly making my way up the stairs to Roxas's room.

I burst through his door, not bothering to knock.

His full-sized bed (which was really just a box-spring and a mattress sitting on top of a large block of wood) was pushed up against the far corner of the room, with the foot of it facing the door. He was sprawled out under the covers, sleeping as expected. He was on his side, with his entire body covered by his dark-blue comforter except his shoulders and one of his arms – which gripped the blanket tight.

I approached him slowly. I couldn't help it – he looked so… _calm _as he slept. His hair swept across his forehead and pillow gently, and I resisted the urge to reach down and run my fingers through it. The cut on his cheek was still there, as was his partial black-eye, but at least he cleaned up the dried blood. His face was relaxed, and his lips were parted slightly... He looked… c_ute._

I shook the thought of my head and stepped forward, pressing and arm to his shoulder.

"Roxas, we need to go-"

"AH!"

Roxas jolted upright when I shook his shoulder, causing his head to collide with mine.

"Urgh…" He rubbed his forehead for a moment, still in a groggy state. I stepped back and did the same. When Roxas looked up to see that it was me who had woke him, his eyes widened in horror.

"N-Naminé! He reached down to pull the comforter all the way up to his neck. "What the hell are you doing? Get out!"

"I-I.. We were running late-"

"Shit!" He was about to slide off the mattress, but changed his mind when he looked at me. He readjusted the blanket around himself and looked around the room frantically. "I-I'm coming just – just go wait outside or something."

I hastily left the room, shutting the door behind me.

Outside, I lent up against the passenger-side door of Roxas's Camaro, fidgeting with my fingers. Why didn't he want to move from under the blanket? Did he sleep naked or something?

No, that wasn't it... Roxas had always slept in a long-sleeved shirt and boxers when we shared a room. He had clearly been shirtless this morning though. Maybe he was self-conscious?

Roxas interrupted my thoughts as he walked out the front door, running a hand through his hair as he strode over to his car. I tried not to stare at the black and blue mark around his eye, but it was kind of hard not to. He slid into the driver's seat wordlessly, slamming the car door behind him as I did the same. He hastily started the car, and sped off in reverse out of the driveway.

I fumbled for my seatbelt as he jerked the car around, turning us onto the street. He switched gears and slammed his foot on the gas, sending me forward in my seat before I could do so.

"J-Jeez, calm down!" I sat back in my seat and hurriedly clicked my seatbelt into the holster.

"We're late," was his grunted reply.

"Y-Yeah, but that's not going to matter if _we're dead_!" I spat back at him as I clutched the handle on the roof of the car. He was going at least 70!

Roxas scoffed. "Here's hoping."

"Roxas, _slow down_!" He rolled his eyes and let out a breath of annoyance, but complied, reducing his speed to the appropriate 35 miles per hour. I sighed and looked over at him seriously. "Did you take your meds this morning?"

His only response was to reach behind his chair, into the backseat (which was a crowded mess of CDs and clothes and God-knows what else). Roxas grabbed a CD off the floorboard, taking a second to read what it was. Then he ejected the CD that had been in his car radio and replaced it with the one he grabbed. Moments later, I was deaf.

Or at least, that's what it felt like.

I couldn't even tell it was music – that's how loud it was. I covered my ears with the palms of my hands and screamed at him to turn it down. When he ignored me and continued to glare at the road, I did it myself.

"What did I say about the radio?" He threatened – his tone livid.

"I'd like to be able to actually _hear _today's lessons, thank you."

He didn't respond. He just slammed his foot down on the gas again, sending us flying.

"Roxas, stop it!" He continued to speed down the road, pushing 90 on the speedometer. "STOP IT!"

"Oh, look: _we're here_."

I looked out the windshield to see that we were pulling into the student parking lot of our school. The parked in the same spot he had yesterday – off to the side and in the shade. The second the engine was off, I was out of the car, slamming my door behind me.

I stormed off (limping, pathetically) towards the school, slinging my bag over my shoulder angrily. As I walked (staggered) up the outer stairs, I remembered that I had no idea where my history class was. As if I wasn't late already. Not to mention the factI could hardly walk on my foot.

There were only a few kids around, all of which were headed into the main building, giving off that the first bell had already rung. Great.

I turned around to face Roxas, who was walking casually behind me. I hobbled backwards as I yelled at him.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"Mhm."

"You could have gotten us killed-!"

"Mhm."

"Not to mention the fact that you were going twice the speed limit-!"

"Mhm."

"Is that all you can say? 'Mhm, mhm, mhm'? Don't you care about what happens to other people-?"

"Not particularly."

"Obviously not since you're so-"

"Door."

"-quick to make – What?"

My back slammed against something hard, and I let out an "_oof" _in surprise. I turned to see that we were at the entrance to the main building, and that I had just backwards-walked into one of the glass entrance doors.

Roxas opened the door next to me. "Idiot."

I scowled at him as he passed, and grabbed the door as it swung shut behind him. I silently followed him down the halls, glaring daggers at the back of his head and silently hoping that he knew where he was going.

We arrived to class four minutes after the late bell rang. Roxas jerked open the classroom door and strode in, wordlessly making his way to his seat. I palmed the door before it could shut and slammed it against the wall, limping in after him while glowering at his backside. He wordlessly took his set while I plopped into mine, my arms crossed.

Someone cleared their throat.

I looked up to see not only Mr. Vernon, but the _entire _class looking at us – alarmed and confused expressions on their faces. I unconsciously turned around towards Roxas, who was already making a comfortable pillow for himself with his backpack on his desk. I looked back to see Mr. Vernon glaring at us.

"Both of you. Detention. Monday," He spat, and I heard Roxas snort behind me.

That's just great: detention with Roxas.

* * *

"Hey, where were you this morning?" I turned to see Riku leaning on the wall outside my History room, his English book in hand. "Sora, Kairi, and I waited for you out front, but you never showed."

"O-Oh. I got here a few minutes after the bell rang. Sorry I kept you guys waiting…" I tugged on a piece of hair that was flicking up.

"No worries." He eyed Roxas as he left the room. "What happened to your step-brother?"

I turned, my eyes making contact with Roxas's back as it retreated down the hall; his hands in his pockets and his bag slung over his shoulder. I knew Riku was talking about his face, however.

I exhaled. "I have no idea."

Riku began walking, but stopped in confusion when he saw me limping beside him. "What happened to _you_?"

"Um, it's nothing." I shrugged and continued to make my way to my locker. Riku chuckled as he appeared next to me again.

"Obviously, it's not - You're limping. What happened to you?"

"It's really nothing. I dropped a glass last night and accidentally stepped on a broken piece of it."

"Oh," Riku chuckled. "Why do I get the vibe that you're a naturally clumsy person?"

A blush rose to my cheeks, and I glared at him. "I am not!"

He laughed at me again, and ruffled my hair. "You're cute, you know that?"

My cheeks flared brighter, and I turned from him, pouting. "Jerk."

Riku shrugged as I dialed in my locker combination. "I'm just saying, not many girls these days have the capacity to blush. Either they've already got it manually plastered onto their skin, or they're wearing too much fake-tan for it to show."

I grimaced while exchanging my books. "I tried that stuff once in seventh grade; doesn't work on me," I slammed my locker shut, and we made our way down the hall. "I am forever pale."

He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "As you should be."

"Hey, Kairi," Riku greeted upon entering our English class.

"Hey, guys," she chirped from her desk. "Where were you this morning, Nami?"

"I came in late-"

"'Nami'?" Riku asked as he sat in his usual seat. I dropped my bag on the desk behind Kairi and sat down.

"What? I think it's a cute nickname!" She defended.

He laughed. "It is cute. It suits her well." Riku turned to look at me, as did Kairi. My cheeks flared again.

"Oh, quit making her blush, Riku."

"What? It's true!"

"Please, you're just a flirt."

"Am not!"

"Ask any girl in the school and they'll say you've made them blush at least once."

"No way! Naminé and I were just having this conversation: more than half the girls in our school aren't even capable of blushing!"

I laughed as they bantered back and forth. Just then, the door opened, seconds before the bell rang. Roxas strutted into the room, his backpack slung over his shoulder. He walked down the aisle to his usual seat in the back row. I followed him with my eyes as he passed me, and the sudden image of how cute he looked while sleeping popped into my head.

Subconsciously, I faced forward again. My eyes widened when I caught Kairi giving me a look I couldn't quite detect.

"You sure you're not attracted to him?" She asked. Riku turned his head, looking at me curiously as if awaiting my answer.

"Of course not," I answered. "He's my step-brother-"

"Well, technically-" Riku cut in.

"_No_, I am not attracted to him." They both looked at me skeptically. "I'm not!" They continued to stare at me. "Guys, seriously!"

Riku chuckled and turned around in his seat. Kairi laughed. "O-kay, Nami."

She looked over my shoulder to Roxas indiscreetly and gasped. "What happened to his face? Did he get into a fight?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

Just then, Mrs. Barlow entered the classroom. "Good morning, class! Today we'll be reading pages 41 through 73 of _Catcher In The Rye_, so take out your books and we'll proceed…"

* * *

"That is one depressing book," Kairi mumbled as we walked (well, _they_ walked. I limped) out of the classroom.

"I heard it was the reason that John Lennon got shot," Riku said.

"Really?"

"I thought he got shot because of that song he wrote," I implied while adjusting the strap on my bag.

Riku only shrugged. "The book was in the back pocket of the guy who shot him when he was arrested."

Kairi's eyes widened. "That's crazy. What if one of the kids reading it decides to shoot up the school?"

Riku chuckled. "Highly unlikely, Kairi."

I suddenly remembered why I had been so anxious this morning. "Hey, guys…?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Sora have a brother?"

Riku and Kairi shared a look, and Kairi turned to me. "Why do you ask, Nami?"

"Well, yesterday in French, a boy came in that looks just like him. Sora didn't seem to like him much though…" We approached the cafeteria, and Riku held open the door for Kairi and I.

"I forgot he was in that class. He's almost never at school," Kairi mumbled.

"Yeah, that was Vanitas," Riku answered me, "Sora's twin brother."

"Sora's a twin?" I asked as we stood in the lunch line.

"Mhm," Kairi nodded. "Fraternal."

"Wow." I recalled what Roxas had told me yesterday in the car. "Did Sora ever go to another school? Him and his brother?"

They both looked at me in confusion. Riku shook his head in disbelief, "How did you know that?"

"Roxas told me. He said he knew them from his old school."

Riku sighed. "Sora, Kairi and I had lived on the same street and gone to the same schools since Kindergarten. But right before high school, Sora moved to the city. He went to Oblivion High for his Freshman and Sophomore years. He moved back during the summer. This is his first year here."

"How did your brother know them?" Kairi asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. He wouldn't say."

"Well, you can always ask Sora when he gets here."

"Yeah."

We stepped up to the counter and grabbed our lunches. After paying for our food, we headed back to the table, holding our plastic trays. Sora arrived a few minutes later.

"Hey, guys," he greeted as sat next to Kairi, swinging an arm around her shoulder like he did yesterday and pulling her in for a side-hug. "Happy Friday."

"Hey, Sora," Kairi greeted, leaning into his side .

"Oh, Naminé. I wanted to talk to you about yesterday…"

"Me too," I nodded. "How do you know Roxas?"

"Huh?" He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. Suddenly his eyes widened. "No way... Wait a sec… _Roxas_ is your step-brother?"

"We told you that yesterday, Sora," Kairi told him, looking up at him from beneath his arm.

"Y-Yeah but… I just thought it was coincidence that he had the same name as…" Sora turned to me. "If Roxas was adopted by your step-dad, then where's Ventus?"

"Who?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Whowas this Ventus he kept mentioning?

Sora gave me a confused look. "Y-You don't… You don't know?"

"Sora, what's going on?" Riku finally asked. "Do you know Roxas or not?"

"I-I do," Sora looked up as Roxas and his friends exited the food-line, trays in hand. I eyed Roxas, who walked without any food in hand – just a bottle of water. Maybe he wasn't hungry. "I was friends with his brother…"

"Brother?" I asked incredulously, turning back to Sora. "Roxas has a brother?"

"Yeah… his name's Ventus. They used to go to my old school. Everyone knew them as 'The Hikari Brothers'. I became friends with Ventus and his friends, Terra and Aqua. But my brother…"

"Vanitas, right?"

Sora looked at me. "Yeah. You saw him yesterday in French. Well… he used to… bully Ventus."

"What?" I shook my head, trying to process all this new information. Sora's brother used to bully Roxas's brother? And Roxas had a _brother_?

Sora shook his head dismally, and I watched Kairi frown at the sad look on his face. "My brother is… Well, he's an asshole, to put it bluntly. He'd pick on kids for no reason all the time. Ventus was his favorite. He'd always try to beat him up but…"

"But what?"

Sora sighed. "Roxas was always there to help him. He and Van got into a lot of fights in ninth grade. This went on almost every day for half the school year. Then…" He cut off, looking away and ruffling the back of his hair. "They stopped come to school. Both of them did. No one knew why. After a few weeks, Roxas was back, but Ventus wasn't. Roxas was at school every day after that, but Ventus… he just… disappeared. No one knew what happened to him. He just… stopped coming to school. Even Terra and Aqua didn't hear from him – and they're his best friends. No one's heard from him since ninth grade… So, when I saw Roxas in French yesterday I thought that maybe... I don't know…"

"What about Terra and Aqua?"

"They still go to Oblivion but… no word from Ventus ."

"Did the fights with Roxas and Vanitas ever stop?"

Sora shook his head. "No… they got worse. When Roxas came back, he was completely different. He marched right up to Van and started punching him the second he saw him. When they weren't fighting, Roxas was keeping to himself. He didn't have many friends before… but now he was like a zombie. He was like that for two years. Then, I moved. I didn't expect to see him here thought…"

Two years… According to Sora's timeline, the time Ventus disappeared would have been around the same time that Roxas was adopted by Leon. Maybe when their Dad died, Ventus was so overcome with grief that he ran away. That must have been it…

"Do you think that Ventus ran away?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't know… I wish I did." I nodded, looking down.

"Naminé?" I looked back to Sora. "Can you do me a favor?"

"You want me to ask Roxas… don't you?" When he nodded, I felt my heart sink with nervousness. Would Roxas even tell me? Would he get mad at me for bringing it up?

I imagined myself in Sora's shoes – having a friend disappear with no clue as to where he went. I nodded. "Of course, Sora."

"Thanks, Naminé."

* * *

"Do you think Vanitas and Roxas will start fighting?"

Sora ruffled the back of his hair as we made our way out of Mr. Burton's class. I turned and waved as Riku and Kairi said goodbye.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did… I mean, Roxas is hanging out with The Organization now."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well…" Sora started ruffling his hair again, and I caught on that this was something he did when he was nervous. "Vanitas is friends with this guy named Seifer, who runs a gang in Healen. They don't really… _get_ _along_ with The Organization."

"So it's like a gang war?" I asked, sounding more worried than I had intended.

Sora chuckled, and we parted momentarily to go to our lockers. "Something like that." He called across the hall.

I opened my locker. Roxas was putting himself in the middle of a lot of trouble… I hope he knows what he's doing.

A nervous feeling grew in the pit of my stomach as I pulled out my French book. Was Roxas going to be able to sit through class with Vanitas there? Was he even going to _be_ in class?

I limped with Sora towards the Language Wing, my book clutched against my chest. "Why doesn't Seifer's gang like Organization XIII?"

Sora shrugged. "I think it's all got something to do with territory. Seifer's like a dog – he wants the city all to himself."

I shook my head. "That doesn't make any sense…"

"Tell me about it. There's other stuff involved too. I think it started off as 'our gang is better than yours' and turned into a series of grudges that were built up on fights between the two gangs."

I exhaled, my worry for Roxas growing with each word that was said. He didn't seem like someone who would react well in an actual fight…

"Where's Seifer at? Is he in school?"

"He graduated last year. Or maybe he dropped out… I'm not too sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the second one, though."

"Is he eighteen?" Sora nodded.

"Last I checked."

He held the door open for me as we entered Madam Duval's class. A confused look instantly etched across my face when I saw Roxas standing by her desk, listening to her talk to him as she sat behind it. He seemed slightly uncomfortable – like they were talking about something he didn't want to talk about. For some reason, Sora stared at him as we passed on our way to our desks.

When the bell rang, I suddenly recalled something specific that confused me yesterday. "Sora, why did you call Roxas 'Ventus'?"

He turned around in his seat in confusion, but it quickly disappeared. "Oh, yeah! Rox-"

"Good afternoon, class. Today we will be beginning a project that's going to help you work on your ability to vocalize…" Sora sighed and turned in his seat when Madame Duval began speaking. I allowed the subject to digress, and began listening.

"-Now, here are the pairs in which I've placed you for this project. Monsieur Valentine and Mademoiselle Braska, Mademoiselle Gainsborough and Monsieur Sora Destati, Mademoiselle Lockhart and Monsieur Highwind…" She continued to call off the names of the partners. Sora turned in his seat and gave me a thumbs-up we she called off our names together. I smiled and tried not to laugh at his goofy expression. "…Monsieur Vanitas Destati and Monsieur Hikari…"

My head shot in the direction of the back row. Roxas was slouched far in his chair with his elbows resting on his desk as he tapped his pencil. Vanitas rolled his eyes and flicked off the teacher when she wasn't looking. I began paying attention to the teacher again.

"…Your assignment is to create a five-minute conversation between you and your partner. You will have to include vocabulary from this week's section on family. You are to meet up with your partner on your own time after school and do this. We will begin presentations on Monday, so you will have the weekend to work on it. Any questions?"

The class groaned and cat-called. I bit my lip in worry at the thought of Roxas and Vanitas working together. Why would she pair them up if she saw how they reacted to each other yesterday? It didn't make sense…

I just hope nothing bad will come of it.

* * *

I walked awkwardly with Roxas out to the parking lot. He stayed a good ten feet in front of me, and didn't say a word - not that I was expecting him to.

The car ride was silent, apart from Roxas's _Death Cab For Cutie _CD that he'd put in. I didn't really mind though – I actually like _Death Cab For Cutie_. I was a bit surprised that Roxas did though…

I was relieved when Roxas turned the car off after we pulled into the driveway. So he wasn't going out tonight… That meant I'd be able to ask him about Ventus.

The thought put a knot in my stomach. I hope he doesn't go off on me for asking him…

I followed Roxas into the house, taking note of the fact that his small, red-leather notebook was sticking out of his back pocket again. He headed upstairs as soon as he was inside, while I went to the kitchen. I'll ask him about Ventus later.

I tossed my bag onto the island upon entering the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out a juice box. As I was sticking the plastic straw through the top, the glass backdoor opened. I looked up to see Leon stepping into the house from the backyard in his swimsuit, drenched head-to-toe with a towel wrapped around his neck.

"Man, that water feels great."

"You sure it's okay to swim in it? What about gators?" I asked as he walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"I don't think there is any. The water's too clean, and even if there was, they wouldn't be handing out on the residential side of the lake," he replied as he pulled out a water bottle, uncapped it, and took a swig.

"If you say so…" I muttered, draining my juice box.

"Is that a juice box?" I shrugged, still drinking. "What are you, five?"

"Mom got them. And I like them…" He chuckled. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Work." My mother was a florist. She owned a flower shop on the outskirts of Healen. My father had helped her open it before I was born…

I quickly diminished my thoughts of him and turned to Leon.

"Shouldn't _you_ be at work?" I asked skeptically. He only shrugged.

"I took three days off because of the move."

"Oh, right," I gestured to his attire, "Because there's so much work to do, right?"

He pointed to me. "Exactly."

"You slacker." I tossed my empty juice box in the trash can and grabbed my schoolbag from the counter.

"Hey, I've been checking in! I've got employees; I don't need to be there every second!"

"Whatever you say…" I sing-songed as I left the kitchen, heading to the foyer.

"Is Roxas home?" He called after me.

"In his room!" I hollered back.

I heard the familiar sound of an acoustic guitar upon entering the upstairs hallway. After putting my bag back in my room, I walked up to Roxas's door and leaned against it, listening blissfully. If there was one thing I loved about Roxas living here, it was his ability to play guitar.

It was another _Death Cab For Cutie _song, I noticed. He wasn't singing the words, but I knew the instrumentals well enough to know which it was. He must've been in the mood for their music.

I knocked a few times, but the music continued. I knew he had heard me, so I entered.

His room was in the same state it was this morning – boxes everywhere, clothes thrown around, furniture placed randomly… Only now, Roxas was sitting on his bed, guitar resting in his lap as his fingers danced along the frets.

He didn't look up at me as I entered, but I could tell he knew I was there.

"Roxas," I asked quietly. I don't really know why I didn't speak up. Maybe I just didn't want to ruin the music. I stared, entranced, at the way his fingers moved above the sound hole of the guitar's body.

"Hm?" He still didn't bother to look up, so I closed the door and walked in.

"I… I wanted to ask you about something."

"What?"

"W-Well um…" He glanced up at me for a moment, still playing. I couldn't help but blurt the rest. "Do you have a brother?"

Roxas's fingers slipped, causing the song to cut off and end. I built up the courage to look up, surprised to find him staring at me.

The amount of emotions that passed through his eyes at that moment was almost uncountable. Confusion, understanding, hurt, anger, sadness… regret?

Finally, he spoke.

"You talked to Sora." It wasn't a question. I was surprised by the calm tone in his voice. It was quiet and kind of… sad. But it wasn't angry, and for that I was grateful.

I nodded slowly, waiting for him to go off on me.

He didn't.

Roxas exhaled wistfully, and nodded for me to come in. I walked over and sat on the corner of his bed, folding my hands in my lap. Roxas scooted back until his back was against the wall, and began playing another song. I recognize this one as an old song by _Coldplay_.

"Yeah," he mumbled about twenty seconds into the song. "I had a brother."

My lips parted when I heard the word "had", but I said nothing and waited for him to continue.

"Ventus," he added, "was his name."

I resisted the urge to close my eyes at the enchanting sound of his acoustic guitar. I kept them occupied by eyeing the way Roxas's hair fell in his eyes as he played.

Roxas sighed again. "We were twins; identical twins."

My eyes widened. "That's why Sora called you Ventus yesterday."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. They were friends."

It bothered me that he kept using words like 'w_ere' _and '_was'_. "What happened to him?" I blurted, and instantly regretted it.

The song faded as Roxas's finger slowly stopped moving. I watched as he clutched the fret board tight in his hand.

"Get out," he muttered, his tone low and laced with something depressing that I couldn't quite pin up.

"W-Wait, Roxas, I-I didn't mean-"

"I said _get out_, Naminé!"

I stood from his bed and headed for the door. I opened it, but glanced back at him one last time before leaving.

Roxas's hair was almost completely coving his face as his chin touched his chest. His fist was clenched so tightly around the fret board that the cuts on his knuckles had opened again, turning them crimson. His other hand was clasping the dark sheets of his bed in his hands.

I turned and left hurriedly, leaning up against the door after closing it behind me. Moments later I heard frantic, angry strums of the guitar on the other side of the doorway.

I should have never said anything.

Roxas left not long after that. The aggressive slam of the front door told me he wouldn't be back for a while.

I couldn't help but feel worried.

* * *

**typewrite: **Thanks so much to **Misoso, illusional writter, Q-A the Authoress, Namixas-Forever, GummyDrive, Crepe-lover, Theresalwaysacatch, MyPitifulEmbrace, musicbox, RainzOfRage **for reviewing the last chapter. It means a lot to me. Also, a big thank you to those who subscribed to me or my story.

I wanted SO badly to give Roxas a Ducati Sport. But I figured it would make more sense for him to have a car, so I went with a black 1969 Chevy Camaro Z28. I love researching cars for my fics. :D

**Note:** The Organization XIII is going to be referred to by a few different names throughout the story, such as "Organization XIII", "The Organization", or "The XIII". They all mean the same group though.

**Note:** Healen is the name of the city where Leon's shop is. It is described in chapter one. Instead of saying Healen, the characters might sometimes refer to it as "the city". It's the same place though.

Chapter inspiration was "Disconnect" by _Plastikman_. I kind of think of it as Vanitas's theme for the story.

The loud, heavy-metal song Roxas played in the car before school was "To A Friend" by _Alexisonfire. _The DCFC song that was playing in the car after school was "Codes and Keys" by _Death Cab For Cutie._ The first song Roxas played on the guitar was "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by _Death Cab For Cutie. _The second song was "See You Soon" by _Coldplay. _At least, this is how I pictured everything. Did you have anything else in mind?

Thank you so much for reading. Please lemme know what you think! See you next week!


	4. A Dark Raven And A Fiery Canary

**4. A Dark Raven And A Fiery Canary**

"Shit!"

"AAH!"

"AH!"

This is the second night in a row that I have had the bejesus scared out of me due to Roxas's sneaking in at untimely hours. It's getting a little ridiculous.

I had gone downstairs around two a.m. to refill my glass of water. But while entering the darkness of the kitchen, I heard someone hiss in pain, causing me to instantly drop the empty glass, which shattered on the hardwood floor.

The light above the stove flicked on, dimly lighting the room. Roxas stood by the island in a grey cargo jacket with his black hoodie underneath. For some reason, the right-half of his jacket had been taken off, and the right sleeve of his hoodie was pushed up. He was standing next to his medication drawer, which was open, with a paper towel in hand and a guarded expression on his face.

He looked at me, and the guarded look turned to an irritated one. _"What the hell are you doing up?" _

I was a bit surprised that he was considerate enough of my mom and Leon to whisper, but my retort was instant. _"What the hell are _you_ doing home so late?"_

"_None of your business,"_ He snapped, then looked to the floor and rolled his eyes. _"And what the hell is it with you and breaking glasses?"_

I gave him a confused look, taken aback by his comment. It was his fault I kept breaking them! _"Sorry, I'll try to cut down."_

He ignored the sarcasm in my voice. _"Good. Klutz."_

I rolled my eyes and squatted down. I began carefully picking up the chunks of glass off the floor. Roxas sighed and knelt to help, gathering the smaller pieces.

I didn't notice when he suddenly paused. "What – What is that?"

His voice was low, but it was no longer a whisper. "What is wha_-_" My breath caught in my throat when I noticed him staring at my upper-arm.

I had forgotten about my tank-top.

I had changed into a tank top and shorts shortly after Leon and Mom went to bed, thinking no one would be around to see the dark marks on my upper arms. Clearly, I didn't expect him to be coming home.

"I – It's nothing," I murmured and quickly resumed picking up the glass, letting my hair hide my face.

Roxas grabbed my forearm and leaned forward on his knee, peering at it. "It's not nothing-"

I shook his arm off and stood up, heading for the trashcan. I ignored the unconscious shock I felt at the fact that Roxas just _voluntarily _touched me.

The last thing I needed was him getting angry with me. He probably thought I was wearing the tank-top on purpose to make him feel bad. Or what if he thought I showed Leon and Mom? He would be so mad…

"Did I do that to you?"

I paused, my now-empty hand still held over the trashcan. I hesitantly looked up at him, surprised by the anguished tone in his voice.

"R-Roxas-" He walked over and stood right in front of me. I dropped my hand from its frozen position above the trash and turned to face him.

His eyes widened when he saw the identical bruise on my other arm. Hesitantly, he raised his hand until it was hovering right over the bruise. He did the same with my other arm, positioning his other hand over its black and blue mark. His eyes widened at the perfect fit, and he stumbled back.

"I did," He choked as he stared at my arms.

Why did the look on his face tell me that the reason for his distress had to do with much more than the fact that he had hurt me? His eyes were blank as he stared at my arms, as if he were recalling a memory – as if my bruises reminded him of something. I couldn't understand it.

"Roxas?" I asked in a hushed tone, trying to break him from his trance.

His eyes snapped up. My lips parted at the amount of hurt I saw in them. I wanted to say something – to ask about it, but something told me that would be a terrible idea.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Naminé. I'm _so_… so sorry."

Did he just _apologize_? "Roxas, it's okay-"

"No!" He snapped, his low tone suddenly breaking into his average volume. "Don't say that. It's not okay."

"O-Okay, it's not okay-!"

"It's not."

"Okay."

He exhaled roughly and turned to leave.

That's when I saw it.

"Wait!" I called in a hush, reaching my arm out. He turned. "You're hurt."

He glanced down at the long, narrow gash in his right bicep. "Oh, right."

He walked around the island to where he was when I first came in and dug through his medication drawer, pulling out some gauze.

So that's what he had been doing...

I stepped closer to him. "Here, let me help."

"It's fine. Go back to bed," he muttered.

I ignored him and leant against the counter, watching him, knowing he would need my help regardless.

Of course, I was right.

I tried not to smirk at the irritated grunts he made as he tried to wrap the gauze around his arm with one hand. After about three minutes, he had finally managed to succeed in loosely wrapping the gauze once around his arm – that is, before his hand slipped and the gauze unraveled.

Roxas slammed the roll of gauze onto the counter with a roar of pure frustration.

I sighed, walking up to him. _"Sit down."_

"_I've got it,"_ he whispered back with a snap.

I put my hands on his shoulders, ignoring his flinch, and quickly pushed him down onto one of the stools at the end of the island. _"Sit. Down."_

He glared at me. _"Don't. Touch. Me."_

I turned to grab the gauze. _"You wouldn't sit down."_

"_I didn't _want_ to sit down."_

"_Well, that's just too bad, now, isn't it?" _I walked over to the sink and ran a paper towel under some hot water. I rang it out and walked back to him.

"_I've _got_ this, Naminé."_

I stood in front of him. _"Turn your shoulder."_

"_This is ridiculous, I don't need your-"_

I grabbed his shoulder and turned it so I could see the cut on his bicep. He flinched again, and growled.

"_Damn it, Naminé! I said don't touch m-"_

"_Shut up, I'm trying to help you." _I gently took the underside of his extremely toned bicep, and was relieved when he didn't flinch under my touch. I kept trying to get over the fact that this was the first time I had really seen his arms since I'd met him. How did they get so… perfect? I'd never seen him work out… A blush rose to my cheeks as I felt the muscles of his arm beneath my fingers, and I was grateful for the room's dim lighting.

I began to lightly dab the outline of the cut with the wet paper towel.

"_I don't _need_ your help," _Roxas emphasized, and I dabbed the center of his cut. He let out a gasp of pain. _"OW!"_

"_Sorry – Slipped."_

"_Bullshit." _I snickered, but quickly masked it with a straight face as I worked to clean his arm. Roxas rolled his eyes. _"Bitch."_

I pushed the sleeve of his black hoodie up some more to get the top of the cut. _"This would be a lot easier if you would take off your jack-"_

"_No."_ He snapped stiffly before I could finish. I exhaled in frustration.

"_It was just a suggestion."_

"_Well your _suggestion_ can go fuck itself." _My eyes widened at his retort. Why was he being so defensive over the topic? It was just a jacket… He's most likely just in a bad mood.

"_Maybe you shouldn't be so grouchy."_

"_Maybe _you_ shouldn't be so pushy."_

"_Maybe you should learn to let other's help you."_

"_I never asked for your help."_

"_Well, maybe-"_

"Maybe_ you shouldn't talk anymore," _He snapped. I rolled my eyes, but decided not to retort.

I finished cleaning his arm and reached for the gauze. I decided to speak again as I began wrapping his arm.

"Who did this to you anyway?" I had forgotten to whisper, but soon realized that Leon and Mom would have already woken up to the glass shattering if they were going to do so.

"What did I say about talking?"

I rolled my eyes. He was just too relentless. "Just answer the question, Roxas."

"It's none of your business," he retorted as he watched me slowly wrap up his bicep. "What makes you think someone else did it, anyway?"

I shrugged. "I just assumed, considering you've been with Organization XIII and everything…"

"How do you know about them?" He snapped, tensing up. I unconsciously tightened my grip on his arm so he wouldn't try to get away.

"I'm friends with Axel's sister."

"Oh," He mumbled, relaxing. I loosened my hold on him. "Kairi."

"Yeah," I finished up wrapping his arm, and held the gauze in place as I turned to search his medication drawer from medical tape, "You know her?"

"He told me about her." I taped the gauze in place. "And I was at their house yesterday."

"There," I mumbled as I hesitantly patted his arm lightly to let him know I was finished. Roxas tilted his head to the side to inspect it. "Wait, you were at their house?"

Roxas's eyes widened and I could tell he had told me more than he wanted to. Still, he nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered, "I went there to pick Axel up."

"To go where?"

"None of your business," he snapped.

I pursed my lips, not wanting the conversation to end. Roxas was actually telling me things… "Doesn't Axel have a car?"

"His brother was borrowing it."

"Oh," I mumbled. Where would Roxas and Axel have gone that would get him hurt like this? Was it the same place as last night?

"Thanks," Roxas said quietly as he carefully pulled down the sleeve of his hoodie. I looked up at him, confused.

"For what?"

"This, idiot," he snapped, gesturing to his arm.

"Oh, um-" He was actually thanking me? "You're welcome."

"Why are you up so late, anyway?"

My lips parted in surprise at his question. Did he actually care? "I-I um… couldn't sleep."

He nodded in understanding, and shrugged on the rest of his cargo jacket. He stood up and looked at me for a moment, as if he was thinking of something to say. I struggled to keep his gaze, unable to shake the awkward feeling that hung in the air. A moment later, he left the room.

What just happened?

* * *

My eyes cracked open, and I winced as the sun shone down on me from my bedroom window. I looked to the side to see that I had slept in. It was already two o'clock. I had slept for almost twelve hours! Wait, _two o'clock_?

I was supposed to be at Kairi's an hour ago!

I jumped out of bed and ran out of my room – straight towards the bathroom across the hall. I discarded my clothes and hopped in the shower, instantly waking at the touch of the cool water against my skin.

Ten minutes later, I stepped out, feeling refreshed and awake. I wrapped a white towel around my body and brushed my teeth before picking up my clothes off the floor and opening the bathroom door. After pausing to switch off the bathroom light, I turned towards the hallway.

I gasped in alarm, nearly dropping my clothes.

Vanitas himself stood in front of me, French book tucked under his arm and a vicious smirk playing his lips. My eyes widened and my lips parted as I looked for something to say, and I unconsciously pulled my towel closer to my body.

"Hello there," he drawled in his husky voice that was much like Sora's. I shivered as his eyes raked over my body. He must be here to work on the project with Roxas.

"Who might you be?" His amber eyes sparkled in delight at my frozen state. I flinched as he ran his free hand up my arm.

"You're adorable," I jerked my shoulder, and he pulled his hand away. I glared at his amused expression.

"Excuse me," I tried to step around him, but he blocked my path. I stared icily at him as his smirk broadened.

"Not so fast, Princess," he gripped my upper arm tight, and I flinched as he pressed down on the bruise there.

Vanitas's hand found its way to the top of my towel, which was hemming its way around my chest. His eyes casted downward as that malicious smirk danced on his lips. "My work's already halfway done for me…"

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the room?" a bored and irritated voice asked.

Vanitas's head snapped to where Roxas was making his way down the hall. "Hey there, Blondie. You didn't tell me you had such a sexy sister…"

Vanitas's eyes trailed back to me, and I scowled at him.

"She's not my sister," Roxas muttered as he gripped Vanitas's arm and jerked him out of the way. I stepped out of the way of the bathroom door and took a few backwards steps towards my room.

Vanitas shrugged out of Roxas's hold. "Girlfriend?" He turned to Roxas. "You bang her yet?"

"Screw you," I snarled, disgusted at his choice of words.

"Ooh, she's feisty! You sure know how to pick 'em, Roxy!"

Roxas growled in annoyance and opened his bedroom door, shoving Vanitas in by the back of his neck. The ebony-haired boy just laughed wickedly.

Roxas turned back to me, an aggravated look on his face. His eyes widened for half a second, but then instantly shifted to a glare.

"Put some clothes on," he snapped, and then turned towards his room. My eyes widened, and I looked down at the towel I had forgotten I was wearing.

I flinched at the sound of his door slamming. Yelling immediately commenced from behind the door, but I wasted no time in trying to listen in. I rushed to my room and shut the door, locking it behind me just in case.

I put some music on and got dressed. After packing an overnight bag, I proceeded to call Kairi.

"Hey, Nami! Where are you?"

"Sorry, Kairi. I woke up late," I told her. "Are Sora and Riku there yet?"

"Yeah. They got here a little bit ago," She answered. "Do you have a way over?"

I bit my lip. "Actually, my mom and Leon are at work. I was going to ask Roxas, but he and Vanitas are working on a French project."

"Whoa, Vanitas is at your house?"

"Yeah."

"Sora, did you know about this?" I heard her call in the background. I could faintly here Sora say something about not being concerned in his brother's activities. "We could pick you up, Nami."

"Yeah, let's go get her!" I heard Sora call enthusiastically in the background.

Kairi laughed, "Text me your address and we'll come get you."

"Okay. Thanks, guys."

"No problem!"

We hung up, and I texted her the address. Afterwards, I walked across the hall to the bathroom to brush my hair. From there, I could still hear the two arguing, except now it seemed like it was about French concepts.

"_It's 'bonjour', you dumbass, not 'bone-jeer'!"_

"_What the hell do you know? You've only been in the class for two days!"_

"_I took French at Oblivion, dipshit."_

"_Ooh, look who's all high and mighty with his-"_

"_I swear to God, if you don't get on with the fucking sentence-"_

"_Cry me a river, Blondie!"_

I finished brushing my hair and retreated to my bedroom. Never have I ever heard such a string of curse words come from such a short conversation. How those two are going to finish an entire project is a mystery.

I grabbed my French book from my desk and set it beside my overnight bag on my bed so I wouldn't forget it. Sora and I will have to work on the project later tonight at Kairi's.

I grabbed my iPod from its dock, cutting off the song it was playing, and wrapped it up in its headphones, slipping it into the outer pocket of my bag. Moments later, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"We're here!" Kairi's voice sang from the other line.

I smiled. "Kay."

I hung up and slung my bag over my shoulder. I grabbed my French book and left my room, shutting the door behind me.

"Roxas, I'm leaving!" I called as I made my way towards the stairs.

"That's great, Naminé!" He called in a bored, sarcastic tone.

"Later, baby!" I grimaced at the sound of Vanitas's voice. Soon after, the two began yelling at each other again.

I sighed opened the front door. The sight before me was not what I expected

Riku stood beside an old, rustic red van, with the back slid open for me. Kairi sat in the passenger seat with her window rolled down, a smile plastered onto her face. Sora was leaning out of the Driver's-side window, sitting up on it with his hands on the roof of the van.

"What do you think? Isn't she beautiful?" He called. I shut the front door and walk over to them, smiling confusedly.

"What is this?" I asked as I stepped into the back seat. Riku followed, sliding the door shut behind him.

"This," Sora grunted as he slid back into his seat. He patted the dashboard. "Is my baby."

"His _other _baby," Riku informed, sitting next to me in the spacious back seat, "Second to Kairi."

"Hey!" Sora called while backing out of the driveway. "I resent that. You know, contrary to popular belief, Kairi is not my whole world."

"Really now?" Riku asked as we pulled onto the main road.

"I'm just fifty percent," Kairi informed.

Sora nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that sounds just about right."

"So what's the other fifty percent?" I asked, leaning forward with my forearms on my knees.

"Um…" Sora cast his eyes downward momentarily, "Kairi…"

The redhead nodded slowly. "Yep. That's probably right too."

Riku, Kairi and I laughed. Sora just shook his head with an amused grin and turned up the radio.

"Where did you find this thing anyway, Sora?" I asked him, our laughter dying down.

"I bought it last year," He told me enthusiastically. "I like it. It has character. Great for beach trips too."

My heart stopped upon hearing of the place.

I cleared my throat, and tried to force the word out, "B-Beach?"

Kairi turned and gave me a curious look. "Don't you go to the beach?"

I hesitantly shook my head. "N-No. No, I don't."

"Why?" Sora asked, "The beach is awesome. I love it."

"I don't," I murmured, turning to gaze out the window. My father's face flashed in my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Sora nodded along to the music. "Probably because it's through the outskirts of the city. Most people don't know how to get there."

"D-Do you guys go there a lot?"

"Well," he stated, "We're bring you next time we go!"

"Which probably won't be for a while, considering it's going to start snowing soon."

I could feel Kairi's eyes on me, as if she could tell I was thinking about something. I silently begged she wouldn't ask.

Surprisingly, she didn't.

"Speaking of which!" She chirped, "What are you guys doing for Winter Break?"

I felt my heart resume its normal pace at her change of subject. Slowly, my father's face began to fade from my mind.

"Have you heard about Olette's New Year's party yet, Naminé?" Riku asked, turning to me. I shook my head.

"She's been having it since ninth grade. It's literally the party of the year," Kairi turned around in her seat to face me. "You have to go!"

"O-Okay," I told her. "I'll think about it."

"_Think_ about it?" Sora asked incredulously.

"I'm not really the partying type…"

"Oh, come on!" Kairi cheered. "It's a tradition!"

I laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll go."

Sora and Kairi cheered. Riku and I laughed at their enthusiasm.

We pulled up to Kairi's house - an old, two-story townhouse – moments later. There was a small, red bronco sitting in the driveway, and I silently wondered if it was Axel's. Roxas _did_ say it was in the shop though…

Kairi's house was very different from what I had expected it to be. Based on her personality, I assumed her to be the type of girl with loving, attentive parents. But walking through her front door, it seemed she didn't have parents at all.

Band posters were hung on the walls in place of family portraits. Clothes were slung over the railing of the foyer staircase. Upstairs, I could hear music blasting from one of the bedrooms, filling the whole house.

When we entered the living room, I noticed that none of the furniture matched. There was an old red and yellow plaid couch, a dark brown loveseat, and a black La-Z-Boy recliner circling a glass coffee table. A large projection screen covered up most of the far wall, with bookshelves filled with movies and games on either side. The projector, I noticed, was sitting on a tall table behind the loveseat, which was facing the screen. Due to the amount of snacks and drinks set upon the coffee table, I assumed that this was where Sora, Kairi, and Riku had been hanging out when I called.

It wasn't that her house was dirty. It was very clean, actually. It just… looked as if it were a bachelor pad. Was this Axel's doing? Did her parents just not care? Or were they scared of him…?

"Make yourself at home, Naminé," Kairi told me as she opened the fridge. "Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"I'm good here."

"Me too."

"Naminé?" Kairi asked. I tore my eyes from where Riku and Sora were plopping themselves onto her couches and looked at her.

"Huh?"

"You want a drink? We've got…" She peered into the fridge. "-Coke, Sprite, Grape Soda, Yoohoo, Monster, fruit punch, orange juice, and Arizona tea."

"U-Um," I tried to process the amount of drinks she just listed. I decided to just go with the last one I heard. "T-Tea please."

"Here you go." She tossed me a can of Arizona green tea, which I fumbled to catch. I looked around her house some more. My eyes caught a pair of lacy underwear hanging from the fan in the living room.

Kairi followed my gaze and sighed.

"AXEL!"

I started, nearly dropping my drink, and turned to her. Seconds later, the music upstairs cut off, and a door opened.

"WHAT?"

Kairi walked over to the foyer and looked up. I timidly followed her, sticking my head out from the hallway and looking up at the balcony.

Axel was leaning over it, wearing a black wife-beater tank top. He didn't seem to notice me.

"Come get Larxene's underwear from the living room. You're grossing out my friends!"

"What makes you think they're mine? How do you know they're not Reno's?"

Kairi sighed in frustration, already knowing the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Are they Reno's?"

Axel chuckled. "No."

"Then come get them!"

Axel sighed and made his way down the stairs. Kairi began walking back into the living room, nagging him as he followed.

"-perfectly capable of picking up after my friends. You should at least _try_ to do the same."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah – Whoa," Axel stopped in front of me. "Who's this?"

"I-I'm um.. Naminé," I mumbled, feeling tense under the gaze of his piercing green eyes.

Those eyes widened "No shit? Roxas's sis?" I nodded hesitantly. Axel clapped a hand on my shoulder and led me to the living room.

"Kai! You didn't tell me you made friends with Blondie's step-sister!"

"You didn't ask," Kairi shrugged, taking a spot next to Sora on the plaid couch. She looked over at us. "Oh, let go of her. You're freaking her out."

Axel feigned disbelief, "Wha – I – _Me_? Freaking her out? Kairi, I am _insulted_. I'm not a scary guy!" He turned to me. "Am I a scary guy?"

I shrugged, and pointed to my cheek. "The uh – The tattoos kind of…"

"Oh, that's just _great_!" Axel threw his arms up. "Make _one_ lousy decision in ninth grade and you're flagged as a 'scary guy' for life!"

I brought my hand to my mouth as I giggled at his expression. He turned to me enthusiastically. "Ha! See! I made her laugh. 'Scary' my ass."

"Just get the underwear, Axel."

Axel scratched his temple as he stared up at the garment that spun around on one of the blades of the living room fan. He walked over to the living room, muttering something like: "How did those get up there…?"

He snatched them from the moving fan and inspected them, chuckling.

"So, Kai-" he looked to Kairi suddenly.

"Cool," his sister replied in a bored tone.

Axel exhaled. "Fine, fine. I'll leave you and the kiddies alone."

"We're only a year younger than you!" Sora objected. Axel chuckled as he left the room.

Sora began to set up the TV and Xbox, while Riku grabbed a controller off the coffee table.

"You wanna play, Naminé?" Sora asked as he made his way back to the couch and grabbed his own controller.

"Um…" I glanced at the television screen as the words _Call of Duty: Black Ops_ appeared across it. "No, thanks. I'm awful at video games."

Riku snorted, and Sora laughed. "Alrighty, then."

"Actually, Kairi?" The red-head removed her eyes from the screen to look at me. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure. It's upstairs, down the hall, first door on the right."

"Thanks."

The metal music emanating from Axel's room got louder and louder as I made my way up the staircase. I paused outside the source of it – a door that had been spray-painted black. A large, orange and red flame was graffiti-ed on the center of the door. Band stickers surrounded it, along with caution tape and a 'No Trespassing' sign that hung right in front of my face. It was, without a doubt, Axel's room.

I hesitated with my knuckle in position above the door. I had finally built up the courage to knock, when the door suddenly swung open.

I stumbled back in surprised. Axel leaned against the door frame casually, his eyes full of curiosity and amusement.

"Naminé… What's up?"

The music still blasted from the room behind him, leaving me completely flabbergasted as to how he heard me.

"H-How did you…?"

"I have the ears of a cat." He smirked, and turned to walk back into his room, motioning for me to follow.

I resisted the urge to block my ears upon entering the deafening space. "Then why is your music so _loud_?"

He looked at me with a strange smile, as if he were trying to figure something out. Finally, he walked over to his stereo system and turned the volume down considerably.

He turned back to me, pointing. "You're clever. Kinda fiery too. I get it now."

"Get what?"

He shook his head, strutting over to his bed, where multiple paper and file folders were laid out. "Nothin', Nothin'. So what's up, kiddo?"

I leant up against the wall next to the door, nodding towards his bed. "What is all that?"

He glanced up at me from behind his flaming spikes. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Sorry."

"You're here about Roxy, right?" I glanced to the side, shrugging. "That's a yes."

"Is he in your gang?" I blurted.

Axel shrugged, and nodded his head to the side as he separated a pile of papers. "Not yet."

"But he will be?"

Axel gestured down to the documents strewn across his sheets. "That's what all this stuff is for."

"Those papers? All that just to join a group?"

Axel chuckled. "Nah. This is the _initiation_."

"Initiation?" My eyes widened.

"Yep. Boss has gotta make sure he's right for the job."

My eyes widened. "B-B-But what job? What is he doing?"

Axel glanced at me. "You really think I'm allowed to tell you that?"

"He's coming home late every night _hurt_ because of this! I want to know what's going on! Where are those cuts from? A-And-"

"Whoa, calm down there, sister. None of those cuts were because of us. That's all his doing."

"I don't… that doesn't make sense. Why would he cut his face up like that?"

Axel furrowed his eyebrows in complete confusion. "His wha-" His eyes widened. "Oh! Right… His _face_… Oh, um… Right…"

"What did you think I was talking about…?" I eyed him.

"Wha- Oh, uh… Well, the cut on his face was the result of a smart reply he gave Larxene, which gave _him_ a knife to the face."

"A _knife_?"

Axel nodded nonchalantly. "She likes those."

I cringed. "What about the black eye?"

"Fist fight with Xigbar."

I shook my head, not bothering to ask who that was. "And the gash in his upper arm?"

"You ever hear of parkour?"

I shrugged. "That's… jumping and tricks and stuff, right?"

"Essentially," Axel sorted through some papers, scanning some of them. "Well, it turns out your step-bro's pretty damn good at it. It's his strong point."

"'Strong point'?"

"Everyone in XIII has got a strong point. It's what makes us individual. Roxas's happens to be parkour. He's quick on his feet. _And_-" He picked up a paper and read something off of it, "-according to Zexion, he's not half-bad at lock-picking either."

Roxas did Parkour. Huh. I suppose that would explain where his arm muscles came from.

Wait, Roxas was picking locks?

My eyes widened. "Lock-picking? You mean, he's been breaking into places?"

Axel shuffled through some more papers, writing small things down on some of them. "Hey, don't worry. We were the good guys in the situation."

I crossed my arms, looking to the side. "I seriously doubt that."

Axel set down his pen. "Contrary to what you're probably thinking, we're not bad people. Everybody's there for a reason. Everyone's got their stories. We're not bad people… We just make bad decisions."

I nodded, looking down. "And Roxas is going to be part of those bad decisions."

"You sound awfully worried for someone who doesn't get along with him." I look up at him. "From what he's told me, you two don't really talk much."

"I… W-We don't…" I shook my head. "That still doesn't mean he doesn't worry me…"

I sighed and looked at him. "How did all this start anyway? He doesn't talk to _anyone_, so how'd you get him involved in all this?"

Axel shook his head, fingering the papers on his bed lazily. "It's like I said: We've all got our stories. And I could tell his was big the second I saw him."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean…?"

He looked to me. "That's just something you'll have to ask him."

I chuckled sadly. "Well, that's redundant. He doesn't talk to me."

"He didn't talk to me at first either. But I've noticed that more time with The Organization is really opening his eyes… and his mouth," he laughed at his bad joke. I shook my head in amusement.

I looked at him, cautious to ask my next question. "Does he talk about… Ventus at all?"

Axel's lips parted like he wanted to say something, but decided against it and closed them. "I… really think you're just going to have to ask _him_, Naminé. It's not my story to tell."

I nodded in understanding. "I thought you'd say that." I turned to him. "He talks to you though, right? Tells you things?"

Axel nodded appreciatively. "Oh, yeah. We've gotten pretty close, Blondie and me. Kid'll tell me anything if I force it out of him."

I laughed and stopped leaning on the wall. "Well, at least he has _one_ friend."

"Not just me," My hand paused on the doorknob, and I turned to him. "He and Xion are pretty close too."

I furrowed my eyebrows, curiosity mixed with another emotion that I couldn't quite detect soaring through me. "Xi-"

A knock on the door startled me. Axel, of course, must have heard it coming. "Axel, open up."

I recognized the voice immediately and turned the knob, opening the door.

What a coincidence.

"Did you get the–" Roxas's eyes widened dramatically as they landed on me. "What the hell…?"

Axel stepped up behind me and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Roxy, I'd like you to meet my friend-"

"I _know_ who she is, she's _my_-" Roxas stopped himself, and glared at the two of us. "Move."

Axel stepped us both aside. Roxas stormed past us, into the room. I was about to turn around and face him, that is until Axel began pushing me out the room.

"Well, Naminé, it was nice talking to you but, as you know, we've got work to do-"

"Wha-"

"By now!" The second the door slammed in my face, yelling commenced behind it. I furrowed my eyebrows as I listened in. Roxas was the first to speak.

"_What the hell is she doing here?"_

"_She's hanging out with my sister!"_

"_I know _that. _What the hell is she doing in _your_ room?"_

"_She just wanted to say hi!"_

"_My ass!"_

"_And _why_ do you care?" _ I could practically hear Axel smirking.

"_I'm just making sure you didn't do anything that would potentially scar her for life."_

Axel groaned. _"What is it with everyone today and thinking I'm a bad guy?"_

I smiled in amusement and made my way downstairs, the sound of their yelling getting more distant with each step I took.

* * *

The yelling had long since stopped hours later. Sora and I were on the floor of Kairi's living room with our French books in front of us, while Riku and Kairi dueled in a game of _Dance Dance Revolution_.

"Avez-vous des frères ou soeurs?"

"Erm…" I flipped through the contents of my notes, "Oui, jay swee says ans."

Sora nodded in thought for a moment, and then let out a snort.

"What?" I snapped defensively.

"Well, not only is your accent that of a drunk Irish man," I scowled at him. "But also, since I'm assuming you just tried saying '_Je suis seize ans_', you answered the question wrong."

"Well, what did I say then?"

"_You_ were saying gibberish," I rolled my eyes. "However, you _tried_ saying 'I am sixteen years old.'"

"And that's… wrong?"

Sora glanced down at his book. "Well… considering I asked you whether or not you had any siblings… I'm gonna say yeah."

"Your French sucks, Naminé," Riku chuckled from his dance pad, his eyes trained on the moving arrows on the screen.

"Hey! I'm trying my best!" I glared at his back. He only chuckled.

Sora and Kairi laughed with him, and I slammed my book shut. "This is ridiculous."

"Aw, don't be upset, Nami! You'll get better!" Kairi encouraged. I sighed.

After their laughter had died down, Sora and I resumed working on the project. A few horribly-translated attempts at speaking French later, we were finished.

"So, Naminé," Sora said from his seat in the La-Z-Boy. "Did you ever talk to Roxas about Ventus?"

Riku looked up at me from his spot on the floor, where he was leaning up against the smaller couch that I was sitting on. Kairi stopped folding up the dance pads to glance at me.

My cheeks flushed at the attention. "Well… I tried. He didn't have much to say about him. When I asked about what happened to him, he yelled at me."

"Oh," Sora murmured, suddenly crestfallen. I frowned.

"Sorry, Sora."

He shook his head. "No, don't be. It's not your fault. He probably just doesn't want to talk about him."

I rolled my eyes. "He never wants to talk about _anything_, though."

"Well, can you blame him?" Riku asked.

"I know, I know. I can respect that he doesn't want to talk about some things… He doesn't have to be so _mean_ all the time though!"

He paused, in thought. "This might be a little off topic, but why do you guys hate each other so much?"

The thought puzzled. I _did_ hate Roxas, but I had never asked myself why. I suppose it was a mixture of things.

I shrugged. "We always have. I probably wouldn't hate him if he wasn't such a jerk all the time, though."

"Has he ever _not_ been a jerk?" Kairi asked, now sitting on the floor in front of the TV, a folded dance pad in her lap.

The memory of Roxas stepping into the bathroom and picking glass from my foot suddenly appeared in my mind. I almost said yes, that there were times when he wasn't a jerk to me. But then, the Roxas from my memory slapped the wet washcloth onto the bathroom counter, and stormed out.

No. No, he has never _not_ been a jerk.

I shook my head stiffly. "He's always been the same. Mean, selfish, arrogant, thoughtless, and just… miserable. I know he's been through a lot, but that doesn't give him the right to treat everyone that cares about him like… like _shit_. It's almost like he's demanding attention by doing it!"

Sora's eyes widened. "Naminé…-"

"I know it sounds harsh, but it's true, Sora! He's completely ignorant to all the kindness around him – as if he chooses not to care! It's pathetic – _he's_ pathetic."

"Thanks."

I whipped around with a gasp to see none other than the boy I was _just_ talking about standing in the kitchen, leaning up against the island with his arms crossed and a livid look on his face.

"R-Roxas…"

He said nothing, and continued to glare at me.

"Roxas, I-"

He stormed out of the room. A moment later, Kairi's front door opened and slammed shut.

I suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was about to ensue.

* * *

**typewrite: **I'm sooooooo sorry for the long wait. Summer finally kicked in, and I hardly had the time to write. Anyone a Game of Thrones fan? I watched the entire two seasons in about two days. I daresay I'm in love. I also (finally) got around to watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. I had watched the shows when they came out, but I couldn't remember most of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get started on Legend of Korra soon. Let me know if it's any good!

Also! I SAW COLDPLAY IN CONCERT ON JUNE 28th! Best night of my life. :D

Thank you so much to **MyPitifulEmbrace, Crepe-lover, GummyDrive, GenieLUV, Misoso, Random Fandom, XDPirateLover1XD, Q-A the Authoress, illusional writter, Theresalwaysacatch, musicbox, Redeeming Endeavor, IntellectualNobody**, and **Guest** for your reviews! Also, big thanks to those who subscribed!

I rushed through the editing on this chapter, so please excuse the mistakes you may see. Feel free to point them out (even the little ones), and I'll go back and fix it. :)

I have no idea what possessed me to give Sora a Volkswagen Bus, really. The model is a red 1969 Volkswagen Bay deluxe. Believe it or not, it was extremely difficult to find a picture of the exact one I wanted it to be.

Chapter inspiration came from the line "forgive them, even if they are not sorry" in the song "11th Dimension" by _Julian Casablancas _from the band_ The Strokes._

The songs Naminé was listening to while getting ready for Kairi's house are "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" by _Clap Your Hands Say Yeah_, and "Last Night" by _the Strokes_. The song on the radio in Sora's van was "Wide Eyes" by _Local Natives. _

I'll try not to stick to the habit of long-awaited chapter updates. Next chapter won't take as long, I promise. For now, suggestions, questions, comments? Let me know!

OH! And I forgot one crucial factor when writing fanfiction: the disclaimer. Duh. So I hereby formally disclaim any Kingdom Hearts and/or other references that you might recognize in the story. Sorry 'bout that. :P

See you later!


	5. Concernicus

**5. Concernicus**

"Voulez vous chercher avec moi?"

"Vanitas!"

"_What_?!"

The raven-haired boy turned away from me to glare at Mrs. Duval, who was glaring right back at him. I rolled my eyes and turned back around in my chair. Creep.

"Since you feel so inclined to impress the class with your lingual abilities, perhaps you and your partner would like to present next?"

I turned my head slightly to glance back at Roxas, who looked as if he was on the verge of falling asleep in the back row of the classroom.

Vanitas looked back at him also, and then proceeded to rise from his seat. He gave a mocking glare to Mrs. Duval.

"Perhaps we would."

I watched as Roxas rolled his eyes, but stood from his desk and proceeded to the front of the room with a bored expression behind Vanitas.

It was Monday, and Roxas and I hadn't exchanged a word since the incident at Kairi house. When I got home and tried to confront him about it, tell him I was sorry, he ignored me. I could still hear the loud, angry strums of his guitar strings from when he decided to play last night at eleven o'clock, right after I had gone to bed.

I had regretted everything I had said the moment he left. I hadn't meant a word of it – not at all. I was angry at him for being so distant and secretive, but I didn't think he was pathetic. I wished I could tell him that, but something told me it was going to be a while before Roxas gaveme the time of day.

"You may begin."

I turned my attention back to the front of the classroom, where Roxas and Vanitas stood, facing each other.

"Bonjour, je suis Vanitas." _Hello, I am Vanitas._

Roxas's voice was tired and distant, but his French was almost fluent. "Je suis Roxas. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance."

My eyes widened at the accent he portrayed. How was he so good at speaking French? We had only been in the class a few days…

But he _did_ tell Vanitas that he took French at his old school…

It was intimidating to hear him speak another language so well. I had only understood the first part of what he had said, leaving me in the dark as to where the conversation was going.

"Il est agréable de vous rencontrez ainsi," Vanitas spoke with impeccable confidence, even though his French pronunciation wasn't as impressive as Roxas's.

I quirked an eyebrow as I watched Vanitas's lips curve up into a familiar smirk. What was he thinking?

Roxas was about to say his next line, but Vanitas's sinister voice quickly cut him off.

"Vous savez, Roxas, Je ne me dérangerait pas d'apprendre à connaître votre sœur un peu mieux… Si vous savez ce que je veux dire." The only word I could translate from that was 'sœur', which meant sister. Wait, were they talking about _me_?

"Vanitas!" Mrs. Duval scolded, though I didn't know why. What did he say?

For a second, Roxas's eyebrows furrowed, his expression incredulously confused. Before I could blink, however, he was glaring daggers at Vanitas. It was obvious that whatever the boy had said, it wasn't scripted.

The lazy tone in Roxas's voice was now replaced with a darker, more aggressive one. "Elle n'est pas ma sœur. Et si vous la touchez, vous êtes mort." '_Something, something, something, my sister. Something, something, something, something, dead.'_

Vanitas's cocky grin broadened. "Vous allez pour la protéger, comme vous l'avez fait de votre frère?" '_Brother'?_

Roxas suddenly lunged for Vanitas. My eyes widened in shock. What was going on? What had he said?

I could hear the muffled gasps and whispers of surprised students. The teacher called out to them, telling them to stop, but neither seemed to listen. What was Roxas doing? He's going to get himself in trouble! Or hurt!

Vanitas crashed into Mrs. Duval's desk, and pushed off it to shove Roxas back. Roxas stumbled backwards, and was in Vanitas's grasp within a second.

"That! Is! E_nough_!"

Both boys froze, glaring at each other. I watched Vanitas tighten his grip on the front of Roxas's shirt, while the blond snarled at him.

"Vanitas! I said _enough_!" After a few more seconds of intense glares, Vanitas released Roxas roughly, causing my step-brother to stumble back a step.

It was then that I realized that I was nearly standing up out of my seat, my fingers clenched tightly around the edges of my desk. I slowly sat back down, not remembering when I had jolted up.

"Vanitas, to the principal's office," Mrs. Duval said sternly, pointing towards the classroom door.

The boy rolled his eyes and made his way to the back of the room to grab his belongings. I cringed as his fingers danced along my desk when he passed me.

"Roxas, take your seat. See me after class."

* * *

"Well, that was intense…" Sora muttered as we walked out of French.

"Yeah…" I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, and quickly glanced behind me to see Roxas standing in front of Mrs. Duval's desk, his hands in his pockets.

I quickly shot my head towards Sora, "Wait, did you understand what they were saying?"

He shrugged. "Most of it."

"Well, what were they talking about?" I asked frantically.

"Um…" Sora ruffled the back of his hair as we made our way down the hall. "Family. They were talking about family."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Okay, but what _about _family?"

"Riku and Kairi are probably waiting for us out front. We should-"

I rolled my eyes, figuring I wasn't going to get anything out of him. It didn't matter anyways; I had somewhere to be.

"Actually, I can't," I stopped walking, and he turned to me in confusion. "I've got detention."

Sora's eyes widened. "_You_?" I nodded meekly, and he chuckled. "How did someone like _you _get _detention_?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I glared at him, but he only laughed more.

"Nothing," he held his hands up in defense, "Just that you seem way too sweet and innocent to be capable of getting detention."

"Gee, thanks," I muttered.

Sora grabbed my arm, an amused smile on his face, "Come on, I doubt you know where to go" He began pulling me through the halls, "So what are you in for, you rebel you?"

I rolled my eyes, smiling, and ripped my arm from his grasp. "Don't call me that." he chuckled. "Roxas and I were late to class on Friday, and I guess we kind of disrupted everyone."

"I should have known it had something to do with Roxas," he ruffled his hair, "Do you two even _try_ to get along?"

"_I _do, it's just… really hard with him." Sora nodded understandingly. I felt an urge to change the subject, having heard this conversation plenty of times within the past few days. "So um… Sora?"

"Hm?"

"Are you and Kairi together?"

I knew they weren't, but I was curious to see if Sora would react to such a forward question.

"W-What? _Me_ and… K-Kairi? Naminé that's, I-I mean, we were talking about your brother. D-Don't, don't change the subject-"

-Is how I thought he would react.

"Nope."

Is how he _actually_ reacted.

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused and slightly disappointed. That's it? "Why not?"

"What do you mean, 'why not'? We're friends. Just friends."

I was completely baffled by his response. Didn't Riku say that they've liked each other since they were kids? Why was he acting so nonchalant?

I looked up at him, and was immediately thankful I did.

Despite his words, Sora's cheeks and ears were flushed pink.

I smiled knowingly. "So, you _don't_ like her."

I watched him hesitate. "Nope."

"Not even _a little_ bit?"

"We've been friends since we were kids, Naminé. She's like a sister to me."

I laughed. "Then why-"

"Well, here you go! This is Mr. Norman's room. He's in charge of detention. See you, Naminé!"

I watched as he hustled down the hall, ruffling his hair frantically.

I smiled to myself in amusement and opened the classroom door in front of me. The room was empty except for a man at the front of the room who was wiping marker off the large whiteboard. He was tall, with greying hair, and wearing a dark blue suit. I assumed him to be Mr. Norman.

I cleared my throat. "Um, excus-"

"Take a seat."

I flinched at his strict tone, but walked over and sat down near the window on the far side of the classroom. I set my bag on the floor and waited awkwardly. Was Roxas going to come?

As if on cue, the classroom door swung open, revealing the blond himself.

Roxas said nothing as he strode towards the rows of desks, choosing one near the middle. He threw his backpack onto the desk and sat down, tossing his hood up before laying his head in his arms on top of the bag.

A few minutes of silence later, Mr. Norman looked up from his desk, his eyes irritated.

"The two of you are in here for two hours. No talking, no sleeping, no cell phones. Do I make myself clear?" He spat.

I looked at Roxas hesitantly. His head was still down.

"Wake up!" Mr. Norman yelled, causing Roxas to start. "And take that hood off!"

Roxas, surprisingly, did as he was told. Now that I could see his face, I noticed a look of slight fear in his eyes. Was he afraid of Mr. Norman?

No, that's crazy. He's Roxas. He's not afraid of anything – especially not a teacher.

…Right?

"I will be in the teacher's lounge right across that hall," Mr. Norman pointed towards the door. "If I hear so much as a peep from either one of you, you'll be in here for another week. You got that?" He glared at Roxas, who said nothing.

Mr. Norman stormed out of the room. Roxas's hood was back up the second the door closed. I watched as he turned away from me, placing his head in his arms yet again.

I didn't know what to do. Here I was, alone in a room with Roxas, who currently hates me (more than usual). Do I talk to him? Do I wait for him to say something? Do I let him sleep?

I sat there for nearly half an hour, just contemplating whether or not I should speak to him. By the time I made up my mind, I realized that he had probably already dozed off.

"R-Roxas?" I mumbled, speaking quieter than I had intended. Come on, Naminé, get a grip.

I cleared my throat, sure to speak louder this time. "Roxas?"

"_What_?" He spat at me, his voice groggy from sleep.

"U-Um…"

"Spit it out, Naminé. Got more insults to throw at me? Let's hear 'em."

He was still lying with his head in his folded arms, facing away from me on his desk. I'd bet anything that his eyes were still closed too.

His words stung like needles. I wish there was a way to make him understand that I hadn't meant what I said.

"Roxas, I didn't… I-I didn't mean-"

"Sure you did. You wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"I was mad."

"At what?" He sat up now, turning to glare at me. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Y-You weren't talking to me. When I had asked about Ventus-"

"Ventus is none of your business, Naminé!" he snapped. "If I don't want to talk about him, there isn't shit you can do to-"

"Yes, but you never want to talk about _anything_! How do you expect to have a relationship with your family if you won't eve-"

"You're _not_ my family," he snarled. I stared at him incredulously. "No one is."

I opened my mouth, struggling to find words. "I-I-I don't understand w-what I did…"

"It's not what you did, it's who you are! You're a snotty, spoiled, selfish little brat that can't keep your conniving nose out of people's business long enough to realize that they don't want to open up to you! I don't see how _anyone_ could want to open up to you about _anything_, let alone me and _my_ shit! You've got it all, Naminé. Your life is perfect. The only problems you've ever faced in life are when your sketchbook runs out of paper, or you get a C on a test, or don't get asked to the dance by the guy you like. Face it, Naminé. You and I are nothing alike. I don't like you, and you don't like me. Don't kid yourself to think that that's ever going to change."

I stared at him, my eyes stinging and brimming with tears.

He really doesn't know anything about me.

Had Leon never told him? Surely my mom would have told Leon, but for him not to mention it to Roxas was surprising.

Or I guess not, with Roxas's background in communication.

I wanted so badly to tell him – to let him know how wrong he was. I wanted to yell it in his face and watch as he stared in bewilderment, realizing his misjudgment.

But I couldn't get the words out. Part of me didn't want him to know – the same part of me that didn't want _anyone _to know what had happened that day. So I kept my mouth shut. I stared at him blankly and waited to see if he had any more to say. But when I realized that he had finished – that he had gotten all of his true feelings out, I decided to speak.

"You don't know anything, Roxas."

His eyes widened slightly for a moment, but the expression was quickly replaced with a glare. I averted my gaze from him, glancing at the back wall of the classroom, the door (I had to dig my fingers into my seat to keep from sprinting out of it), and my lap until finally, I decided to turn away from him completely, facing the window.

I don't remember when I had shifted my position so that my head was in my arms on my desk, in Roxas's signature stance, but as I lay there, I found myself trying to push some very unwanted memories out of my head.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to pound my head with my fists until the images of my father and me at six years old were out of my mind.

But I knew it wouldn't work. It never does.

Once a thought is in your head, there's nothing you can do to get it out but wait – wait until it decides to leave on its own.

This one would take a while, I could tell.

There was only an hour left until I was free of this room, and the tense air it held.

Or at least, that's what I had assumed.

Roxas, on the other hand, had decided that detention was going to end early.

"Where are you going?" I mumbled as he stood from his desk, grabbing his bag.

"I have somewhere to be," he slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the door.

"B-But you're my ride home. Detention isn't over ye-" He paused, his hand on the door handle.

"Ask me if I care."

I sat there, gaping at the door as it slowly closed after him. Did he really just leave? How did he expect me to get home?

I debated on following him, but the idea of riding in a car with him seemed far less appealing than that of walking home.

Leon! I could always call Leon! Or my mom, or Sora. I'm sure Riku wouldn't mind –

"_You're a snotty, spoiled, selfish little brat –"_

No. That's exactly what he had expected me to do. Call my mom and make her come get me.

Well, if he wants to think I'm spoiled, I can't stop him.

But I can prove him wrong.

* * *

"Is this _really_ necessary?!"

The sky did nothing in response but grumble back at me, pouring down more drops of water from above.

My clothes were soaked, not to mention my hair. I clutched my satchel tightly to my chest, trying to refrain from damaging its contents as well. I would hardly say I was succeeding, though.

"Thanks," I said to the clouds, ignoring the continuous rain falling on my face. "Thanks a lot!"

Stupid Roxas and his stupid sports car with its stupid heater.

It had been raining when I left the school, and I was soaked from head to toe within a minute of my departure.

And I wasn't even a third of the way home yet.

I stopped complaining; knowing that it was exactly what Roxas would expect me to do.

I wasn't spoiled.

I didn't need anyone to depend on.

I didn't need anyone to drive me home.

"Naminé?"

I turned my head to the street, where a car I didn't recognize was driving slowly beside me. I peered through the pouring rain to tried and make out who the driver was.

Of course.

"Dammit!" I yelled, stomping my foot. Just this once, I would have liked to have proven him wrong! "Urg!"

"…. Naminé?"

I growled at the sky one last time before turning to Riku's car. He was leaning over the passenger seat, a confused look on his face.

"You need a ride…?"

I exhaled, mentally cursing the skies again.

"Sure…" I muttered, splashing puddles as I stomped my way over to his car.

I plopped down in the passenger seat and slammed the door behind me. I glared at the windshield.

I was not spoiled.

I didn't need anyone to depend on.

I didn't need anyone to drive me home.

Stupid Riku.

"What were you doing out in the rain?"

"Walking home," I mumbled.

"Naminé, it's _storming_ out there. Were you coming from school? Why didn't Roxas drive you?"

"I had detention."

"Yeah, Sora told me. He said Roxas had gotten it too though. Why didn't you go home with him?"

I sighed, the anger wearing off. "We sort of… got into a fight. Again. He left early."

Riku let out a low whistle. "Norman isn't going to like that."

I let out a short laugh. "No, probably not."

Riku nodded, his eyes on the road. "I have no clue where I'm going, by the way."

"Oh, sorry!" He smirked. "I live on Riften Boulevard."

"The one with all the big houses?" I nodded meekly. "Got it."

"Riku?"

"Hm?"

"Do I seem… snotty to you?"

He turned to me for a second, before placing his eyes back on the road. "_Snotty_? Are you serious, Naminé?"

I said nothing, and he glanced at me again. "It was something Roxas said, right?"

I shrugged, glancing at my lap.

"Naminé, you're one of the kindest people I've ever met. Don't let what Roxas said get to you."

I blushed at the compliment, my eyes still on my lap. "What about spoiled?"

"Spoiled?"

I turned to him. "Honestly."

He glanced at me again. "Honestly, I think Roxas is crazy if he thinks you're spoiled."

"But… where I live –"

"Naminé, I've seen spoiled. Trust me, you're not it."

I looked back at my lap. "Thanks Riku."

From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug. "It's the truth."

I blushed for some reason, and made sure to turn my head so that the curtain of my hair hid it well.

There was a part of me that thought that having Riku vouch for me was just proving Roxas right.

Wait.

Why was I so hung up on this?

Since when did I care about what _Roxas _thought of me?

"Which house?"

"Huh?" I turned back to Riku.

"Your house-"

"O-Oh, right. Um… it's up here on the left – the one with the open gate."

"Got it."

We pulled up in front of my house, and I furrowed my eyebrows at the sight of Roxas's car. He said he had somewhere to be!

"That _jerk_!" I swung open the car door, grabbed my bag off the floorboard, and hustled out. I stomped towards the house, slamming the car door shut behind me. I had taken about two steps from the car before I turned around and opened the door again.

"Thanks, Riku!" I said hurriedly.

"No prob-" The sound of his car door shutting cut him off as I hustled towards the house.

The front door swung shut behind me, a sound which resonated throughout the unusually silent house.

"Roxas!" I yelled angrily to the upper level of the house as I stood, drenched, in the foyer. I stalked towards the kitchen and living room, a glare already set on my face. "Roxas!"

I scanned the living room, again finding no sign of him or anyone else. "Rox-!"

I silenced myself upon turning towards the kitchen and seeing my step-brother leaning against one of the counters, opening a water bottle.

"Hey!" I barked, even angrier due to his ignorance.

He turned to me briefly with a bored expression. "What?"

"You said you had somewhere to be!"

"I did," he stately simply before taking a swig of his water.

"Then why are you _here_?!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I live here."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You…! Urg!" I stomped my foot, dropping my bag. "You… you asshole!"

He scanned over me briefly with his eyes, and nodded in my direction, completely ignoring me. "Why are you all wet?"

"Why do you think?! It's pouring outside!"

He narrowed his eyes and set the bottle of water down, pushing himself off the counter. "Wait, you didn't _walk _home…?"

"Of course I walked home! What, did you think I'd call someone to come get me and–?"

"Yes! That's what you were _supposed_ to do!" He yelled, stepping closer to me.

"Why, because I'm a 'spoiled brat'?"

"No, _you idiot_, because it's storming! And it's a two-hour walk!"

I stepped closer to him, glaring into his navy eyes, "Well, maybe I didn't want to give you the satisfaction of knowing I have to constantly rely on other people!"

"You _do_ have to constantly rely on other people! That's how you _are_!"

"Oh, 'that's how I am'?!"

"Yes!"

"A snotty, spoiled, selfish little brat?"

"A _stupid_, snotty, spoiled, selfish little brat!"

"Well, you're a judgmental asshole that thinks that _his_ problems give him the right to point out _everyone_ else's!"

"Oh, bull_shit_. You dramatic little –"

"You're just a big jerk that won't let anyone get close to you–!"

"And you're just pissed because now you know that not everyone wants to dote on you and spoil you. That there's someone out there that _can't stand you–_!"

"That's not true at all –!"

"I bet there's never been a single person in your life that hasn't tried their best to give you everything you've ever wanted. Mommy does it, Leon does it, and I'll bet anything that Daddy Gainsborough did everything in his power to make sure his little girl was –"

The slap that landed on Roxas's left cheek echoed throughout the house. It silenced him, just like his words almost silenced me.

Almost.

"My father's name was _Strife_," I spat, breathing heavily through my nose, "And you don't know _a thing _about him."

I stared at his wide eyes for a second longer before turning, grabbing my bag off the floor, and leaving the room.

As I stormed upstairs, thoughts and memories of my father resurfaced yet again. And regardless of how many reasons I was able to come up with as to why I shouldn't have slapped Roxas, one thing remained constant.

I didn't regret it.

* * *

It was kind of inevitable that I would have to rely on Leon the next morning to drive me to school.

Roxas had remained in his room all night, playing guitar non-stop. I half-expected him to leave – go to Axel's maybe – but about ten minutes after I had slammed the door to my room shut, the music commenced.

He hadn't come down for dinner – again. He also spoke to no one this morning, or last night. Any progress he had made with us – with me – was diminished. We were back where we started.

It was Wednesday now, and Roxas and I still haven't spoken. I tried my best not to let the things he had said get to me, but he had repeated them so many times that I had me questioning whether or not he _really _did think those things about me.

"Of course he doesn't mean it, Naminé," Kairi told me during lunch.

"He wus prawbubly jus mahd," Sora confirmed with a mouth full of hoagie.

"People always say things they don't mean during fights," Riku chimed in. "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"But it wasn't the first time he's said it. What if he really thinks that?" I poked at my salad with my fork.

"So what if he does?" Riku shrugged. "I mean, you said it yourself: you guys hate each other."

"Well, yeah but…" I unconsciously looked over my shoulder to where Roxas and his friends were sitting. Axel and Demyx were conversing about something, while Larxene rolled her eyes. Zexion had his head in a book, while Xion eyed Roxas concernedly.

I fixed my gaze on Roxas, noting the way his eyes, which had dark, dark circles under them, drooped in a sickly manner. His hair was even more disarray than usual, and his face looked a bit… pale.

Was he _okay_?

"But nothing. You shouldn't let what your enemies say get to you."

I looked down at my plate, "We're not _enemies_…" I mumbled weakly.

An image of Roxas and I screaming in each other's faces flashed through my mind, and I winced.

Riku glanced between me and Roxas's table. He looked at me with concerned eyes. "You sure about that?"

For some reason, his words had struck a chord in me. I knew Roxas and I didn't like each other… but was it to the point where we considered ourselves _enemies_? I mean, siblings fought all the time, didn't they?

But we weren't siblings…

Even so… Roxas didn't get along with _anyone_. The fact that I had continuously tried to get him to open up probably just irritated him even more. Maybe it's just how he was… how he would always be.

At that thought, my heart panged in my chest. I didn't know why it did, but I didn't bother to dwell on it.

Roxas was just… troubled. Obviously he had walls that were never going to break down.

_Pang._

There wasn't anything I could do about it.

_Pang-pang._

It became clear to me, even though it didn't make sense.

I didn't _want _Roxas to be closed off.

_Admit it… as much as you hate him… he's like a brother to you. You care about him._

It wasn't difficult for me to admit that the thought of Roxas being secluded and alone forever made me upset. I wanted him to be close to his family – to me. I wanted him to be okay.

But he wasn't. He really wasn't.

_PANG!_

I hit my head against the cafeteria table, groaning.

Maybe Roxas was right; maybe I _am_ too nosey.

During Environment, I kept looking at the fish tank centered in the middle of the room, where I could peek at Roxas from the other side of the glass. He was awake, but barely. His cheek was in his palm and his eyes were half-lidded. He didn't even look tired, he just looked…ill. It worried me.

A sudden earth-shattering thought crossed my mind.

What if being in the Organization had introduced him to using drugs? Was he high right now? Or hung-over? What if he was so sickly-looking because he needed a fix and couldn't get one?!

Oh no.

* * *

"Are you doing drugs?!" I demanded as I barged into Roxas's room after Sora had dropped me off from school.

"_What?_" He had been lying on his bed, writing in his stupid notebook. Now, however, he was sitting up, a look of bewilderment and annoyance on his face.

"You heard me. Drugs. You're using them, aren't you?"

He rolled his eyes, which had dark circles under them as always. "Get out, Naminé."

"No, I want to know. What is it? Weed? Cocaine? Crack? Heroi-"

He was up from his bed now, already pushing me back into the hallway.

"Get _out_, Naminé."

The door shut weakly, a rare occurrence when dealing with Roxas. Why hadn't he slammed it in my face?

Something was definitely up – and it wasn't drugs.

My mind flashed back to what Roxas had been doing when I had walked into his room.

The notebook!

* * *

"Naminé."

"…Yeah?" I asked meekly.

"Get out of my room."

"O-Okay."

So I tried to get the notebook.

That didn't work out too well.

Roxas was in the bathroom taking a shower when I snuck my way into his bedroom. I hadn't realized how long I was in there, digging around in his drawers, looking for his little red notebook, until the door opened and a very confused – very _angry _Roxas stood in the doorway.

On my way out I noticed the very thing I was looking for sticking out of his back pocket.

Jeez. He _always _had it with him, didn't he?

What surprised me more than that was the fact that he hadn't even asked why I was in there. He didn't push me out, he didn't yell… He just stood there, looking half-conscious, with a slightly angry look on his face.

Roxas wasn't himself, and even if "himself" was a temperamental, angry, bipolar misanthrope, it wasn't okay.

* * *

By Friday I had managed to try everything in my power to get Roxas to speak up. Unfortunately, he stayed distant, passive, and quiet throughout my questioning. I hadn't told Leon and Mom – mainly to avoid Roxas getting angrier at me for involving them in business that wasn't even mine.

Wednesday and Thursday nights he was out, with Axel presumably, but tonight he had decided to stay in for some reason. I didn't question it – at least this way I would be able to keep a relatively close eye on him, even if he did stay locked up in his room.

"Naminé, would you go tell Roxas dinner's ready?" Mom asked as we finished setting the table.

"Sure."

I headed upstairs towards his bedroom, stopping by mine on the way to put my phone on the charger.

I knocked tentatively when I reached his door, and as expected, received no answer.

"Roxas, dinner's ready," I called to him from behind the door.

After ten seconds of no answer, I sighed and knocked again. "Roxas."

Again, no answer.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

He better not have snuck out again!

I gripped his doorknob and knocked again with my free hand. "Can you at least give me some response so I know you heard m-"

My voice caught in my throat as I opened the door.

Of course he would be sleeping.

He was on his back, on top of the covers. His eyes were closed and his hair swept across his face, covering most of it.

I sighed again and walked towards him, extending my arm out towards his shoulder.

I tried to be as gentle as possible as I shook him, trying to avoid another encounter like last time.

"Roxas…"

Nothing.

Huh. He's usually a light sleeper.

I shook him a bit harder. "Roxas, wake up. Dinner's rea-…"

It was then that it hit me. Roxas had been growing paler all week, and had put up with my questioning without a single insult since Monday.

I eyed his sickly-looking face and motionless body. My eyes widened, and my heart accelerated with fear.

"LEON?!"

* * *

**typewrite: **I sincerely apologize for the wait. Life's been rough.

School's back in the picture, and so is therapy (ugh on both counts). Oh, I turned 17 on September 14th. I can now legally watch rated R movies without an adult present. Freedom feels good.

I swept through the editing process so I could get this up quicker, so PLEASE let me know if you see any mistakes (even minor ones!).

I haven't been on FanFiction at all to reply to your reviews, but please know that I do appreciate them in ways you can't imagine. Thank you to **namiroku****, ****GenieLUV, ****MyPitifulEmbrace****, ****Q-A the Authoress, ****Witch of Tragedies****, ****musicbox, 91312, ****Gumi Harue****, ****Krajesh, ****GummyDrive****, Aqutalio, JennyBlu, ****LoveLife45****,****Guest, Guest (2), ****Crepe-lover, ****illusional writter****, ****Pili1995, **and **Theresalwaysacatch **for you reviews, and to everyone else who favorite/subscribed to either me or my story. It means a lot to me.

It's one a.m. and I'm sleepy, so I might forget to mention some things, but if you have any questions about the chapter, feel free to ask. I know it was kind of a filler, and I'm sorry for the sucky cliffhanger.

The chapter inspiration was "Help, I'm Alive" by _Metric. _Unfortunately, there wasn't much music in this chapter for me to feed you.

I'm off school Wednesday, and I intend to spend that free time writing. Expect the next chapter by sometime next week – If it's not up by next Saturday, I will promise you my first born child.

Reviews are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading and sorry again.

**Oh, and I've made a ****tumblr **in case any of you that are interested in knowing more about me/my life, or just seeing a bunch of Kingdom Hearts, Avatar, Game of Thrones, Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Adventure Time, Skyrim-y nerd junk.

The URL is on my profile.

Feel free to check it out! See you around!


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